[nothing better]

-the postal service

Can I just say that there is nothing better, nothing more satisfying than a moment when everything in the universe aligns for a beautiful moment or two in order to create the most wonderful combination of events? Clearly, this evening is one of those wonderful moments.

Picture this: the hubs in his yellow apron, sauteing up onions, peppers, and ground round, layering the delicious saucy mixture with mozzarella cheese and thick lasagna noodles while rain pours down and Pandora plays the most perfect melodies of The Postal Service, Minus the Bear, MGMT, Jack Johnson, Iron & Wine, and other such delightful, mellow tunes while we are drinking our favorite red wine (Elk Cove Pinot, yes!) and savoring the quiet before our friends arrive.

Sigh.

Simply lovely. The smells in this apartment are outrageous!

Ciao for now, bellas.

[jesus christ]

-brand new

that's a pretty face....

Well, the Makin' Tracks 5k was not as much as a success as I had hoped it would be. I was nearly in tears after I saw my time, but, thanks to my wonderful husband giving me some important perspective, I felt better after all. Truly, running 3 miles was an accomplishment, regardless of finish time, as I had been curled up in the fetal position and heavily medicated not even 48 hours prior to the race.

While I'm still not 100% yet, I am going to try my best to complete the training regiment for this week as best I can.

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Stretch and Strengthen (my own workout again)

Tuesday: 4.5 mile run (I MUST WAKE UP EARLY FOR THIS!!!!)

Wednesday: 8 x 400 intervals

Thursday: 3 mile run and strength (possibly do strength on Wednesday or Friday)

Friday: rest

Saturday: 4 mile pace

Sunday: 9 miles (eek!!! so close to double digits!)

Our meals also look delicious for the week!

Breakfast: Cereal (a nice break from the liquid breakfasts we've been having)

Lunch: A Chipotle-inspired burrito bowl found on Iowa Girl Eats

Dinner: Homemade lasagna! Mmm, mmm.

Mr. G and I will be celebrating our first anniversary this Tuesday :) He made reservations at a super swanky restaurant called Blackbird, and I couldn't be more excited to dress up and spend the evening celebrating this glorious past year and all the wonderful years to come with the man of my dreams!

 

Lots of love.

[islands]

-xx

What. a. week.

Monday I did my own strength workout, and that felt great. (Thanks Tanya!)

Tuesday I made sure to run in the morning, and I put in 3 miles at a killer 8:19 minute/mile pace. Since I, once again, got up a little late (surprise, surprise) I switched my 3 mile Thursday run with my 4 mile Tuesday run. Fair enough. That night, I stayed late at school to support our Open House, which had a rip-roaring turnout. There was standing room only in the cafetorium! Woot. After coming home, the hubs and I decided the neighborhood 5k race this Saturday sounded like a good time, so we registered.

Then Wednesday happened.

Cue deathly sinus pressure, fever, chills, sore throat, and all kinds of nastiness in the nose region that slowly crept up through my system and bonked me over the head just like Whack-a-mole by the afternoon.

Death.

I managed to stick it out for all of Wednesday at school, but as soon as I hit the door I crawled into bed, sans workout (a tempo run, of course). I knew instantly that I would be in the prone position on the couch all day Thursday. And so it was.

Thursday. Picture a poor, forlorn figure (yours truly), ensconced in an oversized quilt, with a side table chock-full of remedies - Mucinex cold and sinus, Vick's Vaporub, orange juice, green tea pumped full of antioxidants, a Nalgene full of ice water, a box of Kleenex, and a big steaming bowl of none other than, you guessed it, chicken noodle soup. Way to go, Progresso. I'm pretty sure I didn't eat anything solid yesterday. At all.

 

After an 8 o'clock bedtime, I woke up this morning feeling not quite whole, hale, and hearty, but infinitely better than the preceding two days. Whew!

Now, my lungs aren't quite at full functioning capacity yet (not that they're ever stellar, as a person with asthma), but I'm gonna say a little prayer tonight and hope that my recovery is indeed full as of 8:00 tomorrow morning. I have some pretty high hopes for this race, after the times I've been putting in the past two weeks. Granted, my week has been a little disrupted, so I may not live up to my own expectations, but it will feel nice just to be running again, after a three day hiatus.

This course will be pretty cool, winding through a stately, estate-home ridden neighborhood to the university and ending with an all out sprint on their track. When I get there, it's all out for 400 meters. If only I had managed to get in the speed training that this training program has been calling for....oh well. I'm going to pour all the speed I have when I hit the track.

 Here's my inspiration.

 

I read somewhere that running is like flying, because there is a point where both feet leave the ground.

I love that.

I'll be flying tomorrow morning.

To your good health.

[wagon wheel]

-old crow medicine show

Whew! What a whirlwind! The past week has FLOWN by! Last week, I put in some killer 5k times. I'm not entirely sure mapmyrun was being honest with me, but here's the story.

My 4 mile run last Tuesday ended up happening on Wednesday, and it was only 3 miles due to weather and generally not being able to drag myself out of bed early enough. I ran that at an 8:41 pace. Then, the next morning, I did a 3 mile run at an 8:23 pace. Now, these are remarkable times - times I've striven to achieve throughout my running career. I was absolutely thrilled to see the 8:41, as that one was believable to me. When I saw the second amazing time, even better than the first, I just didn't believe lightning could strike twice. While I did feel like I was ripping through my runs, I'm just not sure those times are exactly right. We'll see if I can put in some fast times this week to prove it to myself.

This weekend was also a happy blur. The hubs and I had a very successful trip back to the east side of Michigan this weekend for our friends' absolutely gorgeous wedding. If you're looking for a place, the Southfield Westin Atrium is to. die. for. Seriously. 

 

It was an absolute riot seeing the hubs goof around with the goons he roomed with at State :) There was also another person at the wedding wearing my dress, but we made the best of it!

 

Amidst all the wedding merriment, I managed to squeeze in an 8 mile run around Lake Orion itself, in the blessed, most welcome, post-rain cool. I did find myself running up more hills than anticipated, but the views of the lake and the quaint houses and downtown area were totally worthwhile! I finished that run with a 10:20 minute mile pace, which is okay. Not fantastic, not terrible, just okay. I had hoped for better, but considering the difficulty of the course, I'll take it.

 

 

Here's the game plan for this week.

Monday: Stretch and Strengthen (I'm using my own workout for this one!)

Tuesday: 4 mile run

Wednesday: 40 minute tempo run (I. MUST. DO. THIS. I seriously haven't done a tempo run this training yet....woof.)

Thursday: 3 mile run + strength

Friday: Rest or easy run

Saturday: rest

Sunday: 10k race (now, I'm not really doing a 10k race. The hubs and I have contemplated doing a 5k race in our neighborhood, but have yet to sign up. We'll see.)

Meals: Yum!

Breakfast: Sunrise smoothies (OJ, greek yogurt, power greens, blueberries, bananas, honey. Simply good.)

Lunch: Brown rice, steamed broccoli, and chicken sausuage

Dinner: Fajitas! Grilled steak, onions, and red & green peppers on whole wheat tortillas.

Here's my strength workout for the week. Many of these exercises came to me by way of my personal trainer Tanya, whom I saw for six sessions back in Denver. She was a wealth of knowledge, and truly empowered me. Now I can walk into a gym confidently, armed with a repertoire of easily 30+ exercises that I can execute with solid form. Completely well worth it. If you are feeling unsure, uninspired, or completely confused by all the crazy equipment at the gym, go see a personal trainer. Tanya was an Injury Prevention Specialist, and it was clear from our first conversation that she took my concerns into account and crafted individualized workouts that suited my needs (aka balance and form!)

Do 3 reps of each.

Set 1: Lunge Matrix
    *imagine standing at the center of a compass
    *lunge w/ your right leg in the following directions- N, NE, E SE, S
    *lunge w/ your left leg in the following directions- N, NW, W, SW, S

Repeat directions with the following: One set with nothing in your hands, one set holding a 12 pound weight, one set chest pressing weight, and one set pressing and rotating weight. Repeat each three times.

Set 2

Bridges with Stability Ball and Weights - 25

Squats on BOSU* with overhead press with weights- 25

Chair dips - 20

*BOSU ball - I used it like this, but with weights doing an overhead press, one at a time. Tanya stressed that movements require multiple muscle groups and using only one side of the body at a time really reinforced balance and strength.


Set 3

Forward crunches on stability ball - 50

Side crunches on stability ball - 25 each

Side plank (threading the needle)  - 15

Set 4

V sit ups - 50

Push ups - 20

Legs up crunches - 50

I did this workout last week for my Thursday workout, and it works out everything! My arms were especially sore!

The hubs and I are off to the Y for some swimming (he swims a mile) and strength training action (see exercises above!).

Here's my obsession for the day - pumpkin ice cream!!!!

Divine. I love fall.