Weekend Things!

Last week felt like it went by so slow (and it was only a 3-day week) and then when the weekend hits, it goes by in a blink of an eye! Anyone else feel this way?? We were blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather here and it was hot. 

We slept in Saturday morning and didn't even get up until 8:30! I can't even remember the last time I slept in that late- we got over 10 hours of sleep Friday night. Definitely finally feel well-rested from our trip. 

I got out for an easy 7 miles (at the gym because sleeping in + over 80 degrees + no cloud cover= too hot to run outside) then 20 minutes of arms/abs. Here's a photo of my run on Thursday because it's too pretty not to share!

After getting home, we just relaxed for the evening! I finished reading up on the Hanson's Marathon Method (training plan I'm starting this week for the Las Vegas Rock 'n Roll Marathon in November) and it really is an interesting/unique perspective on marathon training! I'm starting to follow the 3:50 marathon training plan, but will alter it later on if I feel like the work-outs are either too hard/ easy.

On Sunday, I worked on putting their work-out plan into my own homemade calendars!

The calendars are now up on our fridge and I love that I also added in the paces that I need to hit for each work-out and think this training plan will be both fun/a challenge. 

Rewind to Sunday morning and this view with my coffee:

We took Stella out for a walk around the lake Sunday afternoon and she just had to get in a swim too. 

We came back and I started doing some meal prep for the week. Hoping to also fit in a run later this afternoon/early evening when it cools down a bit, but we'll see! I'm trying to relish in the last few days of an unstructured training plan before mine starts on Wednesday. 

Also totally obsessed with How To Get Away With Murder right now- anyone else watch this?! So happy that I can watch Netflix at the gym again, since I'll need to start doing more afternoon training runs to prep for the late start that Rock 'n Roll Vegas has (the marathon starts at 4:30pm). 

Finishing up my recap on our Hello Fresh experience and I'll post it over here in the next few days so be sure to check back! We weren't too impressed with Blue Apron, but decided to give this one a chance.

Ever tried HelloFresh?

Favorite training plan?

Are you currently training for anything?

Favorite Netflix show you're watching right now?

How I Balance My Nutrition When Not Training For a Race

When I'm training for a race, I really pay attention to my nutrition, but I also enjoy the treats sometimes. Currently, I've just started to build up my base mileage again and maintain slow runs (or tried to) to continue my recovery. My mileage base this week may peak out at 20 miles and that's a big IF (especially since we're traveling the second half of this week) and I'm ok with that. 

So what kind of nutrition do I follow when I'm not running 35+ mileage weeks?

It's still a lot of healthy prepared meals, but I decrease my carbohydrate intake quite a bit. I'll still try to refuel after my runs with some protein/carb mix (I'm not so great at this a lot of time, but determined to improve) and eat lighter meals than when I was training.

Lighter meals for me look like: more leafy green salads, less rice/bread/ pasta, more veggies, yogurt with fruit and almond butter (sans granola), bananas/ apples, almonds (rather than crackers/ granola bars), and smaller portioned meals.

I also really enjoy this time when not training to treat myself! I'll still have ice cream/chocolate when training, but when not training I may indulge with a larger portion of ice cream or 3 mini peanut butter cups rather than 2! It's all about balance and moderation in my opinion!

I got up at 4:45 yesterday morning to get my work-out and run in before work/ leaving for our trip that afternoon. I surprised myself when I launched out of bed and was on the road running by 5:15! I was also treated to an incredible sunrise!

Just an easy 3 for me, but it certainly was still challenging! We live at the top of a pretty steep 3/4 mile hill (or rather, at the BASE of a ski mountain) and the way back up seriously kicks my butt. I'm determined to sprint up the entire thing when my next marathon rolls around!

After my run, I followed it up for a quick 15 minute strength training session. I'm slowly trying to maintain what strength I had before the marathon and build on-top of it! 3 rounds of arms with 8 Ib dumbbells and 2 rounds of side planks (held for 35 seconds each side). 

I'm SO excited to run back in my old stomping grounds in Maine- where I first truly started to love running! 

How do you balance nutrition when not training for a race?

Favorite treats to have during a training cycle? 

Favorite treats to have when not in a training cycle?

Life Unstructured

Finally it is Friday! This week was really long/ also kinda felt like it flew by (if that makes any sense at all)?? I did my first TRX Strength training class at Steamboat Pilates studio and it was HARD! It also reminded me that I definitely still ran a marathon last week since I was still kinda sore in my legs. My arms are pretty sore from it too, which is awesome because I have always wanted nothing more than super strong/toned arms! Someday maybe...

I caught a ride in to town yesterday with Alex and brought my bike! Oh how I've missed being able to bike commute to work- it's so peaceful and lovely (especially when the weather is nice out).  

I made this amazing salad for lunch with sunshine raspberries (got them at Trader Joes- I've never even seen raspberries this color before!), candied pecans, and baby spinach. It was delicious, but I was hungry for something else and followed it up with siggi's mixed berry & acai yogurt. 

Rewind to breakfast this morning, where I made this deconstructed smoothie bowl with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, almond butter, siggi's yogurt, cinnamon, honey, and chia seeds. IT WAS AMAZING! 

I'm kinda really loving the non-structured feel of this week. Don't get me wrong I really love training plans and schedules, but sometimes it's nice to take a step back and do whatever feels good in the moment. Want to go to a work-out class, then go! Feel like taking the dog for a long walk by the river rather than going to the gym, totally fine! 

It's refreshing and a little crazy (for me) to just do whatever I want! I don't have to work 50 hours a week right now between 3 different jobs and can sleep-in if I want rather than only having one time where I need to get my sweat on. 

I'm definitely missing running right now, but know my body and mind need at least a week off from it before picking it back up again. Running 26.2 miles is no joke and should be taken seriously. 

Probably lying low this weekend, packing, getting my manicure/pedicure (treat to myself after the race), enjoying the beautiful sunshine, farmers market, hiking one day, and possibly renting a SUP to go on the lake one day- typical Steamboat things! Happy (almost) weekend!

Enjoy a training plan or live life unstructured?

Do you jump right into another training plan after finishing one or take some time to reboot?

Any fun plans for the weekend?!

Revel Rockies Recap & How Many Days do you Take Off After a Marathon?

Happy HUMP DAY! It's finally Wednesday- we made it! I think one of the best decisions that I made when planning post-marathon was scheduling a vacation 10 days afterwards! It's just the right amount of time to recover, rest, and pack. Alex, Stella, and I will be driving back to Maine (yes all 33 hours) to visit family, play in the ocean/mountains, and go to my dad's wedding (he's getting remarried). It's pretty convenient to have grown up so close to each other- we can spend a few days with each others family and then spend some time just relaxing too. I've begun packing and cleaning up the house a bit and will continue to do so until we leave ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!

Another really great thing that I planned post-marathon was treating myself to a manicure/pedicure. I have it scheduled for this weekend and I cannot wait to be pampered! 

PS you can find my Revel Rockies Recap here! They've just started to post some of the free race photos (they're all free and able to download directly from online) and I've got some pretty good ones so far!

Also does anyone else ever block out the few days after a marathon where the pain going downstairs is ROUGH and your body just hurts everywhere? I always seem to forget just how painful it really is...

After seriously indulging the past few days, I am planning on heading back to the gym tomorrow (took 3 total days off) and do some light biking/ellipticaling then getting back into some yoga and strength training on Friday. I want to utilize this time between training cycles to rest (no running for a week after my race), recover, and begin building an even STRONGER body! 

Here's to hella strong glutes when I toe the next start line! 

How many days do you take off (of running) after a marathon?

Any special treats that you like after finishing 26.2 or vacations you schedule?

Any tricks to avoiding downhill stairs until 5 days post-marathon?

Importance of SLEEP & all the food

Hi Friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It was two beautiful, sunny, cloudless days here and I did.not.want.it.to.end. On Sunday, we went into town to do some sightseeing and visit a few of the shops. The Steamboat Marathon was still going on and I felt both sad (this was the first year that I haven't done it since I moved to town) and excited (the energy was contagious and got me pretty pumped for my race next weekend)! It definitely is a small-town race (I did the marathon one year and half-marathon the next two years) and gets to be pretty hot with not a lot of shade along the course, but the scenery is fantastic. HIGHLY recommend if you're looking for an early-June race next year! 

We visited a few of the local springs in town (the one above is Steamboat Spring)- we have a total of 7 natural hot springs in the center of town (only one you can actually go soak in). Unfortunately, the riverfest that we planned on going to wasn't happening, but we made the best of it and walked the town then headed to lunch before relaxing back home! One of Alexs' close friends also had his parent visiting (him & his friend grew up together) from Maine, so we took them all out to eat at the Ore House--> a MUST visit if you are ever remotely close to Steamboat. They have a sunset happy hour menu (5-6pm) and all entrees are typically ~$2 off regular price. I had the green chile chicken and off-course filled up on their all you can eat salad bar and dinner rolls (they have a cinnamon roll flavored one and it's amazing). 

On our drive home, Alex's dad had us stop to get a picture of the pelicans that we have at the lake by our home. They're always there every morning and the gray swan (alittle to the right of the pelican group) is also in this photo! 

Who knew that there were pelicans in Colorado?! This ended our weekend and it was so great. 

I bought some rustic sourdough bread this week and had to have some for my breakfast this morning! Half had a smashed avocado, red pepper flakes, and a egg and the other half had butter & raspberry jam with a side of oj :) Is it just me or does anyone else get even more hungry when they're tapering?? I think it's because our metabolism is still really high from all the miles we've put it through and is trying to play catch-up. Definitely not complaining and I'm trying to eat as much healthy light food that I can!

Met Alex & his dad for one final meal together before he left and of course we had to go to CREEKSIDE! I was torn between breakfast or lunch (they serve both all-day), but wanted to try something new so I got the falafel salad and it was so amazing! After about two hours, I was hungry again so had some fresh watermelon that we got this weekend.

Watermelon- definitely one of my favorite summertime treats. I also managed to squeeze in a short run before lunch (on my lunch break from work) and a few strength moves (did some dips on the assisted pull-up machine and calf raises on the side of a stair). I don't like to completely cut-out strength training the week of my marathon, but do stay away from any leg exercises and focus on just a few core/upper-body exercises to keep myself feeling fresh and strong, but not over-worked. I'll do one more day of a few strength training moves on Wednesday or Thursday, then that will be all before race day on Sunday! I've already started to pack a few things for my race and create a list. Tonight I'll work on  my playlist and packing some food/ more clothes. The more I plan ahead and pre-pack, I've found the less-likely I am to either 1. forget something or 2. stress about the race. I will probably finalize my race-day plan on Wednesday, so I can start visualizing it and feeling confident leading up to the race. We will leave Saturday late-morning for Denver (about 3 hour drive) to allow enough time to go to the expo, do a short shake-out run, drive along a portion of the course, check-in to our hotel, and get some dinner!

Anyone race this weekend? How'd you do?

Any big races scheduled this Summer?

What are some necessary things you do the week of a race?