5 things Friday

This week has been super odd, and busy so I mainly just have a random smattering of things to share!

1) I haven't been feeling well this week due to allergies but I was finally able to get my booty out of the house last night for a full 4 mile run.  The weather was perfect, I do hate fall but I have learned to appreciate the cooler temps to run in.  The Detroit Zoo 10K is on Sunday so this was my last big run before the race!

2) They just released the shirt design for the Detroit Marathon.... I hate red so I am not super happy about the color!  The design on the back though is pretty BA, and our team t-shirts are going to be awesome so I will take the free shirt!

 

3) The amount of baked goods in my house is not okay.  I successfully made my first batch of scones the other day and then got the brilliant idea to make more to ship to the BF but only half would fit in the box.  So now I have 6 PB Banana scones just sitting in my house, along with a ton of salted caramel chocolate chip cookies that my roomie made for work.  Yesterday I ended up eating a cookie post run and convinced myself that the salted caramel counted as sodium replacement... willpower fail!

 

4) My BF is amazing and sent me a care package with a super cute frog he won for me at the Minnesota State Fair a few weeks back, and a mutually beneficial gift card to VS.  He did tell me it couldn't be used for bathing suits or yoga pants.... he knows me far too well!

 

 

5) Everyone should stop whatever else they are doing with their time and watch Orange Is The New Black.  It is a netflix original series that is AMAZING, and thankfully it will only take you a few days to binge watch all episodes so the 30 day free trial is perfect for anyone currently without a Netflix account.  I decided to take my few days feeling sick to finish up the last episodes in bed and I can't wait for the second season even though I am pretty sure it hasn't even started filming yet.

 

 

 

Tonight is a girls night out on the town, and then tomorrow will hopefully be a perfect pool day followed by rest so that I can kick booty at the 10K Sunday.  Everyone have an amazing weekend!





Running in the rain!

0% chance of rain... until I head out for my lunch time run of course!  I know you are supposed to train for any weather..... however running in the rain during lunch really isn't practical since my hair would turn into a curly hot mess for the rest of work!  I only was required to run 1mile but I really wanted to get in 2 just to feel better about the 10K this weekend.  The weather had a different idea so I turned around early and made it just over 1.  I usually don't run under an 11 minute mile and now that I have done it 2 days in a row I am getting even more confident that my speed training will pay off!

 

Also on the training plan today was strength training, the TIU Triathlon strength plan seemed like a perfect all over body workout and it didn't dissapoint.  This plan really concentrated on arms and abs with a few leg workouts thrown in.  My legs already get super toned when running consistently so I don't like to do too much at the gym to make them even more sore but I know I need to do at least little things to keep them strong and safe. 

 

And NO I am not planning on doing a triathlon anytime ever!!!  Swimming is best saved for the pool when I am too hot from laying out.... and I have this little problem where I don't know how to ride a bike sooooooooooo

 

Plan for tonight, get in a good session with my foam roller, complete my LAST final exam ever, and make up some chicken kabobs!!

Weekend Recap

Why does it have to be Monday again?  I am spoiled by my every other 3 day weekends, and it does make the 2 day weekends a little tougher to get back from. 

Friday, checked out an awesome new bar called On the Dunes which is a hike away but it offers a lot of cool activities like bags, ping pong, volleyball, all mixed in with bars and great drink specials.  We went with a huge group and everyone wanted to play volleyball, I'm not really a volleyball girl so I just sat out and watched.  It would have been a great night if it wasn't so dang cold... we will have to go back when it is a little warmer and when I am drunk enough to play :-)

Saturday got in a few hours at the pool and then headed out for the Walk the Plank bar crawl.  It was a bar crawl coordinated for a few extended friends and their birthday.  It wasn't a typical bar crawl in that the bars when from shady to just dirty and you couldn't walk from them but it was def an experience.  Plus any night that ends in drunken taco bell is good in my book!  Plus we also got our picture with the Captain!

 

 

Thankfull I didn't drink too much and was able to have a very productive Sunday.  I knew I needed to grocery shop, meal prep for the week, do 1 of my final exams, get in a good run, and skype date with my love.  Thankfully I was able to get everything done!  I can't believe that I only have 1 final exam left to do (tonight) before I am completely done with grad school!!!!  It must of put me in a good mood because I was able to bust out a solid 3 miles (at less then my normal pace thank goodness) and then enjoy the rest of the night chatting with my love.  This long distance thing sucks but facetime makes it so much more managable. 

 

 

I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well!

 

 



Back in training!

Sooo last week marked my first week back in training. I don't have any super long races coming up but I do have the Detroit Zoo 10K on September 14th and then my 4.5 miles leg of the Detroit Marathon on October 20th. Last week marked 8 weeks until the Marathon so I decided to find a good 10K plan to help me increase my speed and help with my endurance. No plan really fit what I wanted so I just took the best one I could find and made some changes.

The one thing different about the plan I printed off is that for the first time I am including speed work into the mix. I usually run a 11-12 minute mile pace for long races and can sometimes get it to a 10:30 for shorter races like a 5K. I recently had to do a mile for time and I actually got myself down to 9:35 but I also knew I only had to sustain it for one mile. Since my portion of the relay is only 4.5 miles I decided that I would set my time goal to hit under a 10 minute mile! This is a huge deal for me so I wanted to train for it appropriately.

First let me say that I had a hard time figuring out what in the world I was supposed to do... seeing things like "4x800 5K pace" threw me for a total loop. Thankfully I found an awesome plan from Hal Higdon that explained everything perfectly. Tuesday I got in 3.5 miles and yesterday I had to do 4x800's. This means that I run 400 meters at a 5K pace and then am supposed to jog for another 400 meters before I repeat. Yeaaaaaa about that...... it wasn't pretty. I couldn't seem to get my stamina up to jog during the "rest" meters. This is def going to take some work and my legs are def not happy that I even tried it yesterday. I know it is only the second week so I have 6 more to go to get the hang on it but I really hope I can pull it together at least on race day to help my team out!

The only thing that did help my running mood is that while away this weekend I decided to pick up some new shoes! I went to Gazelle Sports in Grand Rapids which is where I got my last pair and tried on a few different styles. Apparently I am a Nike Lunarglide girl because I ended up choosing the exact same shoes I have been running in since February. These ones are much brighter though and were def fun to run in. I may not be able to run fast but at least I will look good doing it (or just distract people with my neon yellow)!

Weekend recap (only a few days late)

So apparently it took me a little bit to get caught up from my long weekend! Thanks to Labor Day and my standard every other Friday off I was able to get in a full 4 days of fun, friends, and sadly homework.

Thursday night J and I headed out to Chicago where she had invited me to be her plus one to a sorority sisters wedding. We didn’t' get in until super late but it was perfect because then we had all day Friday to get brunch, lay out at the beach, and get ready for the wedding. I had never been to the beach in Chicago and I thought that it was sooooo cool that you were literally right in the middle of the city being able to enjoy the lake!

 

It was so much fun being a plus one, I have never been to a wedding where I wasn't either a part of the wedding or with someone that was. Being able to just attend, enjoy the drinks, and not follow a schedule was pretty amazing! It was also fun to meet a bunch of J's sorority sisters and friends from college. We were both AXO's at different schools and I feel like I have known her forever even though it has been such a short about of time.

Saturday morning we headed out for Grand Rapids to spend some time with my HS girls. What should have only been a 3 hour trip turned into a 5 hour mess. We literally did not move more than 30 MPH through the entire state of Indiana! Have to say though I had the best company in the world and when we weren't singing along to stupid songs, or flipping through every Sirius station searching for Britney Spears, we were either talking about everything under the sun or cursing out every stupid driver on the highway. There is a reason she is my bestie!

When we FINALLY made it we spent some time at the pool and then headed downtown GRap to some of my favorite bars. We had way more fun than anticipated and ended up spending most of the night downing girlie drinks and dancing our hearts out!

Sunday was a final drive to home and some recovery. I spent most of the day relaxing with my feet up trying to figure out what I needed to accomplish for my last two weeks of school! Sadly that meant that Monday was completely full of homework but I am happy to say I got my final 2 papers done and only have 2 final exams standing between me and my Master Degree!!!!!!

Getting my sweat on!

It may be over 80 degrees out all this week but the best place to sweat for me is Bikram yoga!

I did it for the first time about a year ago and as hard and miserable as it truly is there is no better feeling afterward.  My mind and body both always feel amazing and when I add it in to my normal running and lifting routine I can see my body transform.  I haven't been in quite a long time so I was happy to get back into last week. 

For anyone that hasn't heard of Bikram before it is a style of yoga that is done in 90 minute sessions and consists of the same 26 moves and 2 breathing exercises repeated every time.  The kicker is that the room is heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity!  Even just standing in the room would make you sweat so trying to stay active in it is hard, it is truly a physical and mental test.  My favorite part about it is that since your muscles are super warm it is much easier to get in a deep stretch which has helped with my running and lifting.  Also as much as I hate sweating I can tell that my skin is so much better from all of it lol!

Anyone want to know what it is like for the first time can check out this amazing article from buzzfeed!  You walk out looking like a hot mess and the first thing you need to do when you get home is lay out all of your clothes because to say they are gross would be a major understatement.  Also I usually go through 2 full water bottles while I am there and then another with an electrolyte replacement when I get home.  It def isn't for anyone but I love having it in my routine!

Plan for the tonight is to get in a 3 mile run since I am officially in training for my 10K coming up in 3 weeks and my marathon relay portion in 8. Then I am taking a normal yoga class at a new studio just a few blocks from my house that just opened last week.

I also have to share that I basically had the most amazing lunch that I am now addicted to. I have a bunch of cooked quinoa and shredded chicken in my fridge so I decided to mix it up with some hummus, feta, roasted red peppers, and artichoke hearts for an amazing filling for lettuce wraps. I love Mediterranean food and this hit the spot. It was also ice cream social day for my group so of course I partook because well my willpower is nonexistent and no one was every happy by denying themselves ice cream!

Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

In an attempt to get back into my healthy eating routine after a few weeks off I really wanted to try something new. I love love love stuffed peppers and have made them in a few different varieties over the years. This week I decided that I would try to make a Mexican stuffed pepper that would be both filling and flavorful to get me back on track. I am pretty proud of the result and it was a great use for the shredded chicken I make at the beginning of each week. You could also sub in any other meats or just take it out completely in order to make this dish veggie friendly. I didn't add any cheese to the stuffing mixture but rather choose to add it on top when I was reheating them throughout the week for my lunches; I also added a dollop of plain Greek yogurt on top for a sour cream taste with a kick of added protein. These will for sure become part of the normal dinner rotation!

 

Mexican Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

 

 

Ingredients

3-4 Bell peppers with seeds and tops removed

1 cup black beans drained and rinsed

1 cup cooked quinoa

1/2 cup corn

4 oz shredded chicken breast

1/3 cup favorite salsa

1/2 T cumin

 

Cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt toppings optional

 

Directions

1) In a medium bowl combine beans, quinoa, corn, chicken, salsa, and cumin.  Mix completely and test for seasoning and spice level

2) Place bell peppers in baking dish and fill evenly with quinoa mixture

3) Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes until peppers are softened (adding a little water to the bottom of the baking dish will also help the peppers soften while baking)

4) Enjoy!