Minneapolis-Star-Tribune-runningkellometers

This week has been crazy at work. The weather here in Chicago has been beautiful all week and I've missed the sunshine both days so far (arrive at work while its still dark, leave when the sun is setting). I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday. At least I was only 1 day off.

Last night I wanted to get out there and enjoy the temperatures, even though I couldn't enjoy the sunlight. I had a speed workout planned to do 6x400m (last week I did 5x400m) with a 400m recovery jog inbetween. I <3 the interval function on my Garmin because it helps keep track of my average pace per split. Last week I was shocked to see that my splits were in the 6's. Doing the workout again this week, I see more 6's that are even lower!

6:07
6:00
6:19
6:02
6:25
6:10

(Maybe next time I'll have 1 in the 5's?) I didn't feel great during this workout. I was tired and definitely felt like I was going slower than last time. I didn't have the best pre-workout fuel and I think that is part of the reason why I felt so tired. (I worked late and grabbed Cosi on the way to the train. Apparently the Hummus & Veggies sandwich isn't substantial enough for a hard workout. I should have known this and gone with the Subway Veggie Patty instead. Now I know for next time.) My very first post talked about some stomach issues I was having, so I at least learned to not eat chips and guacamole before running. Now I also know to add Cosi veggie options to the list. Although, when Lent is over and I go back to eating meat, maybe a sandwich with some meat would have a different effect? Have you struggled with pre-run fuel while out running errands or working late? What is your favorite "restaurant" pre-run fuel?

Before I went out, I knew the workout I wanted to do but I didn't really think about the total distance. Since I've newly been including a warmup and cooldown to go with my speedwork, this adds additional time and miles. I thought I would be gone for only 3 miles but it ended up being 4. I'm not going to complain but it just didn't really seem like 4 miles. Have you ever had that happen before?

No worries on the post-run food. I have that covered.

I have to add hearts to all my food photos now

Thanks to everyone that has recommended Peanut Butter & Co products in the past. I joined the bandwagon and am never getting off. Their Dark Chocolate Dreams is just as delicious as it sounds.

I had a new running top that I was very anxious to try. It was in the clearance section at Target (for $9) and it was a BRIGHT orange.  I really liked it a lot. It was fitted but not too snug. The perfect size. C9 for Target does it again! If you're interested, the shirt can be found on their website here. I didn't take a photo because the orange didn't show up properly on my camera. :(

P.S. Have you entered my Road ID Prize Pack Raffle yet? Only $3 per entry and it is open to anyone anywhere in the U.S. or Canada!

Tuesday I had a successful speedworkout. I completed 5x400m with a 400m recovery jog in between. The splits are as follows:
7:18
7:24
7:24
7:24
7:08

My goal 5k pace is 7:24 so I felt pretty good about this. Considering I haven't done speedwork in a few months, I comfortably met my goal. Now I know I can do it and it is time to turn it up next week for more!

Also on Tuesday I received my winter running purchase from Running Warehouse! A balaclava (left) and a pair of decent winter gloves (right). I've only been complaining about my winter gloves for months now. I'm excited to give these gloves a try today! I will post a review of them once I've given them a whirl a few times. I like the yellow color. You can see them from space!

I've also decided what I'm giving up for Lent this year. As I've mentioned a bunch of times already, Toph is a vegetarian. I thought since he already is one, it would be easy to give up meat for lent. Yesterday I was traveling for work and had a really hard time finding a menu item that was vegetarian. That prompted me to decide that I am going to go vegetarian for lent. I toyed with the idea of going vegan too, but decided that it would be a bad idea considering I just bought groceries and most of them would go to waste. Lol. Next year, I'm going vegan. Now THAT would be a challenge. :)

Tonight I'm meeting my running group for our 2nd attempt at a standard Thursday night run. Snow is in the forecast so it could be interesting. I brought my trail shoes and my running raincoat just in case. When the weather outside is less than perfect, do you still like to go out there and hit the pavement, or do you head to the treadmill? With the exception of extreme heat or pouring rain, I'll head outside! :)

In light of starting fresh this week, I took a rest day on Sunday. Yesterday I decided to run 3 easy miles after the tough hilly and long run on Saturday. I met up with my friend Ryan and we ran 3 miles on the trail. I wanted to take it easy since I think I'm starting to get a cold and my legs felt a bit sluggish. The mile splits were 9:56, 9:45, 9:11. Not really consistent but it was nice to just run super easy. The pup came with us too which always makes for an interesting run! The first 1/2 mile is always the hardest because she forgets that we don't all-out sprint the whole time!

Pepper and I after our run

I was happy to start off the week this way since today I'm going to jump back into my speedwork this week! I have a month until the Shamrock Shuffle 8k where I hope to break 40:00. I'm going to attempt some 400m repeats since they worked well for me before. I don't want to push to do too much since it is my first time doing speedwork in several weeks. We'll see how it goes!

I know religion is something that I don't really talk about on here (besides CCD), but I wanted to briefly talk about Lent. It starts tomorrow and I'm not sure yet what I'll be giving up. Last year I gave up treats (cookies, candy, desserts, cake, etc.) and the year before I gave up pizza (which was a lot easier than I thought it would be). I don't really drink much pop anyways, but I know giving up treats again would be really hard. However, I know I can do it already and I'm looking for a new challenge. What are things that you've given up for Lent? If you're not Catholic, has your family still participated? Do tell!

Also, I have signed up for my 4th half marathon of the year. Due to a schweet Schwaggle deal, I signed up for the Wisconsin Dells Half Marathon. The Kates and I are turning it into a girls weekend trip and I'm pretty pumped about it. I've never been to Wisconsin Dells before and I've never run in Wisconsin before so it should be fun! Have you made a destination race into a vacation, or found a race while on vacation?