7 Things

First weekend recap of the decade/year/ since last November or something like that?!? Better late than never I suppose! I finished my Mental Health clinical last week and am beginning my second-to-last semester this week! I was surprised at how much I really loved the Mental Health portion and am excited to have my Pediatrics & Women’s Health clinicals this semester! Soon my views will look a bit more like this again:

We are also still mainly eating plant-based (since November)! I don’t love to think about it as a ‘restriction’ and we’ll occasionally eat out and get whatever we want (restrictions for me = I generally eat UNHEALTHY items just to fit into my diet & cut-back on the good things like veggies because it’s just easier). We also got an awesome coupon from Hello Fresh so trying out their vegetarian options too the past few weeks (we’ll either cut-back or cut-out the amount of cheese they want us to add). Whenever we have gone totally ROUGE on our diet -> I have pretty immediately gotten crazy heartburn & a stomach ache. That definitely tells me that my body thrives on plant-based foods with the occasional egg or teaspoon of cheese.

We’ve also started doing 20-30 minutes of yoga each night before bed & we both sleep so much better. Sometimes it’s nice to switch-up your nightly routine and try something new!

I’m also still getting my butt-kicked with swimming lately (2x/week!). I can only make it like 10 minutes before I need to take a breather (convinced swimmers are super-athletes), but love it as an extra cross-training activity!

I’m onto book #2 for the year & am hoping to finish this one this week before classes take over my life again. Although the next two semesters shouldn’t be too busy, so happy to have a bit more freedom for running & reading 🤪

Alex picked up his suit for the wedding and we finalized on a tie- can you guess which one we went with?!?!

My Dad got a new puppy over the weekend and I cannot wait to meet him. Just look at all those wrinkles!

Most of my classes don’t start until next week so I have today & tomorrow off! Hoping to get my long run in today (Monday’s are my ‘free’ day this semester so those will be my long run days), do some baking/meal prep, begin my studying for classes, & hoping to either go ski or do a winter hike somewhere tomorrow. I’ve been dying to get out into the mountains!
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• Can you guess what tie color we went with?

• Anyone else a sucker for puppies?!?!

• Favorite plant-based or vegetarian recipes?!
  

The Treadmill

The treadmill. Some people call it the dread mill, but honestly- I love it. It gives me the opportunity to really SWEAT when I normally don’t outside (because it’s freezing), helps me practice my mental strength, and gives me a sense of safety on those days where maybe the roads are icy and snowplows are abundant.

I almost always do my speedwork and tempo paced runs on the treadmill in the winter.

Plus, it gives me an opportunity to people watch. I mean, what’s better than getting your workout in and watching other people figure out how to work the equipment? This is one of my favorite treadmill workouts.

I also get to catch up on those Netflix shows that I never get to watch otherwise. You know things like The Crown, Greys, Gilmore Girls. I know some people love to read while running, but honestly- I just can’t do that. I don’t know how they can keep their gaze?!?!

I’ve logged thousands of miles on the treadmill including some 20 mile runs (I love to say ‘let me run an hour’- go pee or take a gel- then tell myself I have another hour ). I also put on a crazy kick-butt playlist for those faster runs and try to tune out as much as possible. I also alternate the incline to give me some variety and challenge my body to changing its form.

Can you imagine where I’m heading this morning as it’s -5* out? THE TREADMILL! Time for some tempo miles, varying incline, strength work, & a quick swim to shake it all out before work. We’re also going out to dinner tonight and picking up Alex’s Wedding suit! Yay!
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Favorite part of the treadmill?
-What are you up to this weekend?
-Anyone have a go-to treadmill trick to run longer on it?

What Training Looks Like Right Now

It’s kinda funny how different seasons of life bring different expectations, viewpoints, perspectives, and goals. I was just thinking back to this time last year where I was super vigilant on training for my 50 miler/ Eugene Marathon and honestly, I feel like maybe it was too much training? It’s funny how it takes a while to look back at something and see it from a totally different perspective. I can almost envision the why I never actually reached my goal at Eugene because my training was crazy intense during an already stressed-out time in my life. I’m so happy I decided to take a complete month off of running because it allowed my body to regenerate and honestly, I’m feeling fitter than ever right now. I’m excited to begin working with a running coach for the first-time and focus on just a few races this year. I also really want to continue to improve-upon my nutrition as well as the ‘little things’ like strength training, yoga, and maybe some cross-training activities or run groups! Speaking of healthy -> we’re still mainly eating vegan (since November!), but have been loving the vegetarian options from Hello Fresh! Last nights Mediterranean Chickpea Couscous Salad:

I’m also getting stocked-up which can only mean one thing: race training season is upon us!

I started 3 mornings last week with some yoga and it was amazing. I really really love to begin my days like this if I have time.

Epsom Salt baths are also my jam lately. I add a side of Hot Lemon-Lime Nuun & some Gilmore Girls for the background -> amazing.

Last weeks training looked a bit like this:

Monday, Jan. 6th: 7.03 miles 9:33 min/mi avg in the slushy snow and yoga

Tuesday, Jan. 7th: Bike for 20 minutes & strength

Wednesday, Jan. 8th: 7.5 miles with 6 x 800m (see below for splits) and 15 minutes of strength work and yoga

Thursday, Jan. 9th: 3.5 miles at 10:46 pace on snow-packed trails after a day at my mental health clinical

Friday, Jan. 10th: 10 miles with a faster finish overall average 8:59 pace and yoga

Saturday, Jan. 11th: 6 easy miles at 9:24 min/mi avg and yoga in the morning

Sunday, Jan. 12th: 6.24 easy treadmill miles at 10:29 min/mi avg and yoga in the morning and 342 yard swim

Total Mileage: 40.3 miles

Total Elevation (treadmills don’t count the incline which is a bummer!): 1, 322’ up

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-What’s your training look like right now?

-Ever had a point in your life where maybe you over-did it?

New Favorite Item, This Was Fun, Wedding Updates, Do You Take The Time?

I recently purchased my new favorite item EVER and it was only $14. No, not running-related, but definitely POST running related! I got this amazing sweater/pullover at Target on sale and I love it. It looks super similar to one that I’d been eyeing at Prana for years, but about 1/4 of the cost! Also don’t mind my getto headphones- I pop them on to cook when Alex is still working in his office.

I made the most amazing and favorite dinner right now- brown rice (cooked a giant batch), Run Fast Eat Slow Runner’s High Peanut Sauce (made a giant batch), with sauteed veggies/tempeh and a drizzle of siracha on top. SO GOOD.

I took the time yesterday to not run and instead bike for 30 minutes and get my strength work in. I did a super slushy/snowy run on Monday and think it was too much for my achilles (it was a bit achy Monday night), so I took the time to take the day off and rest/ice/stretch. Do you ever take the time off to help your body recover better and prevent injury?

I’m also LOVING swimming right now. I went on Sunday and will be going again this afternoon! I love how it helps ‘flush’ out my legs post run and I also get a bit of a workout in there too. I’m convinced that swimmers are in fantastic shape because 10 minutes for me = heavy breathing!

Currently reading these two books for the new year! I’m trying to get both of them read before I begin classes in less than 2 weeks. Think I can do it?!?

We taste-tested our potential wedding dinners (we ended up changing one item) and it was amazing. So SO delicious and cannot wait for June to come soon enough!

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-Anyone else a fan of target sale items? I’ve found some of my favorite sweaters there!

-Do you take the time to prevent injury and rest/stretch/ice when something feels off?

-Book recommendations?

How To Make Those 'Resolutions' Stick

New Years Resolutions. A lot of us make them. A lot of us hate them. Some of us (like me) thrive on not resolutions, but goals/intentions/milemarkers. I want to improve myself and check some things off my bucketlist. I know that I certainly won’t hit all of my goals this year (ha that would be great now wouldn’t it?!?), but I know that I’m dreaming big and at least setting out to get my goals.

One of the biggest things that I’ve found that helps me make (and STICK TO!) my New Year goals is by setting them intentionally.

I think about my goals A LOT. I dream about what I want, I change my mind a million times, and then ultimately when something sounds really good I say ‘yeah! I’m doing IT’. I think by taking the time to really nail down the goals that I want it helps solidify my desire for the goals. Having desirable goals is HUGE. You definitely need to be passionate about what you want before putting in all that hard work. I remember I dreamed of running a marathon for years, trained for one, got injured, took a few years off, then resigned-up with the full desire to actually DO IT before completing my goal! You have to want to do it and really understand what it will take to get you there BEFORE actually doing it or putting in any of the work.

Once I write down my goals someplace where I will see them all the time, I take into account the work that it will take to get me to my goals. For example, when I set out to raise $10,000 for Multiple Sclerosis- I wrote down everything that I could possibly think of that I could do to help me fundraise that amount of money. I wrote down businesses, people that I knew, places where I could fundraise, events that I could hold, etc. That big giant list was my way of knowing what it would take to help get me to my dream!

I was also realistic in my goal-chasing process. Know that you will hit bumps in your road. You will most-likely hit roadblocks. Be kind to yourself during this process.

Envision yourself pushing past those roadblocks and be kind to yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day and your goal will not be completed without a few setbacks. I think they say that it take three weeks to set a new schedule/routine. So know that you have time to possibly fall down and getting back up and carrying on is what you’ll need to do!

Don’t let the roadblocks and detours deter you from your goal.

I never let injury stand in my way of someday running a marathon (and now I’ve ran 8 of them) and neither should you! Be relentless in your pursuit of your goals. Be flexible, laugh when something silly deters you off course for a bit, and then pick it right back up again.

Knowing from the get-go that it will be challenging will help you conquer your resolutions. If everything you were pursuing was easy, then we would all lead very mundane lives!

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-How do you stick to resolutions or new goals?

-What intentions have you set for yourself lately?

-What roadblocks or detours do you envision yourself hitting?