Albuquerque Recap!

We drove down to Albuquerque (about an 7.5 hour drive) on Friday morning & arrived there around 6pm. We drove by the Sand Dunes National Park and we couldn't resist stopping- so our trip took about an hour longer than expected! 

Sand Dunes National Park is seriously so amazing and we are already planning a camping trip there during the Fall! It was so crazy how it was 70 degrees outside and the sand was already burning Stella's paws after only a few minutes. Thankfully there were some muddy streams that we had to walk through to get to the sandy portion (due to the spring run-off) and she was able to cool-off in that. 

You can actually rent surfboards and sleds and slide down the dunes (supposedly you can also ski down the dunes, but I'm not 100% sure about that...). It was so amazing and it's also a really dog-friendly national park (most we have visited have been pretty strict). Once we left the dunes, we were off to Placitas (about 30 min outside of Albuquerque) to our air bnb that we booked! This place was seriously the cutest and the host, her name was Rebecca, was absolutely amazing! It was built in the 1920's and was originally a post office. It was nestled in the mountains and had a ton of hiking trails! 

Friday night we went out to eat at a small Mexican restaurant & went to bed relatively early. On Saturday, we were up by 7ish & I went out for a short shake-out run with Stella while Alex grabbed breakfast! We headed out to the Race Expo to pick up my bib and it was even smaller than I thought it would be (my bib number was 242)! We then headed to the ABQ BioPark Zoo- which was seriously amazing! We didn't end up going to the biopark area and just visited the zoo (to save the legs/ it was pretty hot out- 85 degrees!). 

All the animals were so adorable- including this giraffe! He was the only male and all FOUR of the females were pregnant! What a stud...

We headed out to lunch at the Bosque Brewing Company and had a flight of their various drafts to test out! Had to carbo-load and the Elephant's Parade was AMAZING. It was light, fruity, and honestly did not even taste like beer. We ended up getting growler of it!

I ended up getting the half sandwich (Italian) and half salad (greek) and it was SO good! We headed out to Trader Joes to grab some things for dinner (we were going to cook it and take advantage of the full kitchen that we had) and then back to grab Stella and head out for a short hike before the storm rolled in!

Wind-blown hair don't care. It was beautiful out

After our hike, we headed home to make dinner and relax before race day! Post about the race and my EXCITING PR will be posted shortly and over on my race recap page. 

Stunning sunset in Placitas, NM!

Ever been to Albuquerque or raced there?!?

Zoo, Botanical Gardens, or Aquarium?

What's your favorite part of traveling for races?

Happy Tuesday!

Hot Yoga & Run-Commuting

Good morning! Yesterday was a crazy hectic day as I had so much work to-do, didn't get much sleep, and had to get the oil changed in my car. SO to try to fit everything in, I decided I would drop my car off at the dealership at 6am and then run-commute to work (I had already dropped off my purse/lunch at work since I drive by and packed a backpack that I would run with). First time doing this and it was pretty great! However, it was SO chilly out to start the day (30 degrees) and my mittens/hat were already packed in my bag that I was taking to New Mexico. 

After freezing my butt off during my run (but it was so beautiful out), I began my crazy day at work (then walked to the ice rink (still sans car) and taught a few lessons). 

Isn't amazing how great you feel after a morning run in the sun?

I then decided to finish out my day with some hot yoga to help me relax, de-stress, and hopefully help me get a good nights sleep (which it did)!

My bags are packed and we are off to make our drive to Albuquerque! So excited :) 

Snack of the day! Cinnamon flavored rice cake with sunflower butter & raspberry spread!

Have you ever run-commuted to work?

Favorite snack during the day?

Hot yoga- yay or nay?

Workout Wednesday

Took the morning off of running (to keep my legs fresh for the race on Sunday), but got in a quality strength training sesh. I started a new strength training routine this morning since it's the beginning of May and I had been doing my past one since the middle of March. I try to switch up my routines (by keeping track in my running journal) every 4-6 weeks, especially during a marathon training cycle since I feel like it helps keep me strong and injury-free.

planks to push-ups

I started out my new routine on the bosu ball- 2 sets of 10 of squats (with 10 Ib free-weights) to vertical arm raises (added in a twist in each direction above my head) & 2 sets of 15 balanced skaters (these are sooo good for us runners, but they are HARD). Then moved to the stability ball and did 2 sets of: 20 mountain climbers with forearms on the ball, 10 pikes with hands on the floor & feet on the ball (SO difficult), and 20 sit-ups with 10 russian twists and 10 vertical arm raises (both done with a 10 Ib medicine ball- above my head). Then I moved onto the 10 assisted Dip machine (I am still struggling with these and it may be my most-hated/hard fitness routine ever) and followed that up with 30 rubber band lateral walking squats. Then did some of my pt exercises on the tension cord pulleys! 

tension cord pt exercises

Then onto some rolling with my R8! Love this thing so much. It is pretty painful (especially if I hit a certain spot), but I 100% notice a difference the next day when I wake up and am not as tight as I would be if I were just using a foam roller. Also just tried this new Kevita Sparkling probiotic- the hibiscus berry was decent. It had a little too much fizz for me personally, but if you like fizzy drinks, I'd highly recommend it!

That's all for me today! Happy humpday!

Do you like to switch-up your strength training routines?

Whats your favorite go-to drink besides water?

Hectic Tuesday, Tart Cherry, & CoreRunning Interval Work-out

Hooray Tuesday is done and gone! These are always my busiest day of the week where I normally start work at 7am and don't get done until 5pm (with no breaks in there) then I head straight to my CoreRunning Class at Steamboat Pilates Studio. I always try to pack extra snacks on days like today and rest my legs as much as possible (to save them for my run at night!). 

I started my day off with a fantastic smoothie and added in some tart cherry extract- have you ever used this stuff? I swear it has helped me recover so much faster! I read on the Women's Running Magazine Instagram a while ago how one runner uses a tablespoon or two of the extract, mixes it with full glass of water, and splash of lemon juice within 30 minutes of her run to help speed up recovery. I swear it has been working like magic! Highly recommend testing it out yourself and you really don't notice the taste as much as I thought I would. 

Smoothie with Coconut Water, Maple Hill Creamery Plain Yogurt, Tart Cherry Extract, Chia Seeds, 4 Strawberries, 1/2 banana, 1 1/2 tablespoons of Whey Vanilla Protein powder, and one beet

I love using smoothies as a kick-starter for a long day or to help speed up recovery. After a super crazy two-job work day (I worked at Point6 & then went to the rink to teach our second to last learn to skate classes until the Fall!!), I headed to the pilates studio to do their CoreRunning Class!

This class is so awesome and a fun way to get those intervals done. The instructor provides an overall "plan" for you each week and keeps track of your progression. We normally stick with either 400, 800, or mile repeats each week (depends on how I'm feeling, what I have planned for the rest of the week, etc.). Since I'm racing on Sunday, we didn't do anything too crazy. 

7 miles for the day!

It's amazing how this workout would've left me exhausted just a few months ago and now I barely even feel anything afterwards! I also always look forward to going to this class after a crazy day- it makes me feel refreshed and I can always leave my aggression out on the 'mill. I try to do at least one interval work-out a month outside on my own (to get a feel of the paces), but really love when I can make it and meet up with my fellow runner friends! Now off to foam roll and put those legs up the wall for a bit!

How do you like to do your progression runs?

Have you ever tried a Running class?

VO2 max & Jumpboard class!

Hi friends! Happy May! I am almost always training for a marathon in the month of May, so when it hits I know that 1. my race is right around the corner (41 days to be exact) 2. that these next few weeks will be my peak weeks until I begin to taper and 3. I will be hungry all.the.time and it is acceptable to eat all the things!

I was pretty groggy when I woke-up this morning and it was sleeting, but I was determined to not let the weather push me indoors and I am so glad I was persistent! When I finished foam-rolling at the gym, it was just overcast outside and absolutely perfect out. 

I think I maybe met one car the entire 5 miles and really tried to keep my easy run "easy". Does anyone else struggle with this? Since taking iron supplements (I've been on them for a little over 4 weeks), I've noticed that I've been able to run at a significantly faster pace (we're talking 30-50 seconds faster) without feeling like I'm struggling or have any sort of labored breathing and each run FEELS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Thinking I'll make my post about my anemia and kidney infection coming up real soon. Also- I hit a new VO2 max threshold this morning- score! 

Another amazing feeling is finishing a truly easy run and having your Garmin tell you that you have a recovery timeline of less than 24 hours. Does anyone else get super pumped when they see this? It must mean we're doing something right...right?

After my run, I per-usual showed up to work with still wet-hair and heated up my breakfast (2 egg muffins, 1/2 baked sweet potato, and 1 Murray's breakfast sausage). Fast-forward to lunch and I got to go back to Jumpboard class at Steamboat Pilates and Fitness! I LOVE this studio. I mean really LOVE it. They just did a remodel and it looks amazing. The instructors are all awesome and I have learned so much from them about how to engage my core (and hello- I actually have "abs" for the first time). 

I had some of my thai coconut peanut sauce with soba noodles & veggies for lunch along with a side of carrots & spelt pretzels after coming back from class. Hoping to take it easy tonight and have some leftover minestrone soup, find HGTV's Fixer Upper on (hopefully! I am slightly obsessed with Chip & Joanne Gaines), and foam roll! 

Here is a link to a great sight that I used to look up where my VO2 max stands for my age and gender. Running for Fitness also does a great job at explaining what factors go into predicting your VO2 max and what it is exactly. 

Do you have any big Monday night plans?

Do you use any VO2 max calculators or rely on your running watch for any other stats?

What's your favorite cross-training running workout?