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A few weeks ago I tried to do a tempo run. It was too much too fast after taking a break from running during my busy study time. I have been apprehensive to re-attempt the tempo so I have stuck with fartleks and intervals. Last night I decided to give the tempo run another go. The plan was to do a 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at tempo, with a 1 mile cool down. Historically this was one of my go-to workouts so I was hoping it would workout this time around. Dressing to run in these unpredictable temperatures can be kind of difficult.

That's okay though. I look like an awesome green ninja (a runnerd ninja). The middle top is something I picked up at the outlet mall over the weekend and it is my most favorite new winter running top. What is your favorite piece of winter workout gear? I only just realized that my Bondi Band (from my Daily Mile Secret Santa) matched my outfit perfectly. Also, special thanks to the husband for getting me green Yurbuds for my birthday!

I felt a bit over dressed during the run but since it was only 5 miles, it wasn't too bad. I made sure to take the warm up nice and easy. I tried not to go out too fast which ended up with my first tempo mile split at 8:03. The second mile I knew I needed to pick it up. An 8:03 just wasn't going to cut it for me, mentally. I just did loops around my neighborhood and part of the way, the wind was at my back and part of the way the wind was in my face. I tried not to let this get to me and just power through it. The second mile I clocked in at 7:52. I wasn't sure if there was a way for me to keep going for another mile at that pace. I was beating myself up thinking that my third mile would probably be my slowest. I also thought, maybe I'll just do a half mile. To get myself out of it, I tried a technique that Sierra mentioned she had done during the Hot Chocolate 15k. I told myself that I can keep this up for a half mile more. That was nothing. When I stopped focusing on the distance, my watch was at 0.65 mile before I knew it. Then, the rest was easy (well, as easy as the end of a tempo run can be). I think I might have even been able to tackle one more tempo mile, if I wanted to. The last mile I clocked 7:49. I don't think I've run a mile that fast in a long time. The last mile cool down felt great as I was so happy with how things went down.

I am ready to improve in 2013 as I was no where near this point at this same time last year! I felt so invigorated when I got home! Have you ever had one of those workouts where you weren't sure if you could do it, but you talked yourself into it and succeeded?

Now, today at the office, I'm wearing some compression sleeves under my dress pants as the calves and shins are a bit tight. I plan on using the foam roller and doing a bit of yoga tonight to help stretch things out.

DON'T FORGET! Today is the last day to enter the Running on the Wall giveaway!

Yesterday I hit the treadmill during my lunch break for a tempo run. Spoiler alert: things did not go well. The plan was to do a 1/2 mile warm up, 3 miles at tempo, and a 1/2 mile cool down. Perhaps it was a bit of an ambitious speed workout after not having done much in the past month. Maybe I was just having a bad day. And maybe I just need to strengthen my core more before doing this type of workout. Either way, my shins started hurting me part way through the 2nd tempo mile. I didn't want to risk anything so I cut the workout a mile short (and did some foam rolling afterwards). I'm looking to get on the exercise bike or rowing machine for some cross training today so that should be helpful. I'm not quite sure what happened. Maybe I'm trying to do too much too soon? Maybe this was too soon to try and incorporate some speedwork? I'll keep it easy the rest of this week and see how things go. I'm looking forward to my first "long run" in awhile this weekend!

After my workout, I was pretty sweaty and gross but was able to whip up a sock bun and look halfway decent for the rest of the work day (after taking a shower from the neck down, due to the adjustable shower heads in our locker room showers). Do you workout on your lunch break? If I'm working out during the work day, I try to take my lunch break later so I am only gross for an hour or two instead of more.

Sweaty post-run photo

When it comes to cooking, I'm pretty lazy. Lately, however, I've been trying to be better about cooking meals for me and Toph to try to get into some good habits before we start a family. It is definitely challenging while working full time, studying, and running. Whenever I find a recipe that is easy and not too bad for you, I put it into the (very small) rotation. A friend had made a couscous salad once for a barbecue and when I finally replicated it, I was amazed at how easy it was! I'm sure there are lots of variations that you could come up with, but this is the base and what I made for me and Toph.

Ingredients:
Couscous
Olive oil
Tomatoes
Almonds
Feta cheese
Fake chicken (but I'm sure you could use real chicken instead)
Green onions (optional)
Avocado (optional)






Couscous has to be one of the easiest things to make. Do you know how to boil water? If the answer is yes, you know how to make couscous. (I'm not joking.)

After cooking the couscous (with the olive oil) and fake chicken, I put all the ingredients in a bowl together after chopping up the (already oven roasted) almonds and tomatoes.

Clockwise from Top: tomatoes from our garden, fluffed couscous, fake chicken and diced almonds,

Mix ingredients in a bowl, chill for 15-30 minutes in the freezer (if desired), and serve. It is such an easy, easy dinner that is tasty and not too bad for you! I only seasoned with pepper as I know the fake chicken already contains a lot of sodium, but feel free to salt and pepper to your heart's desire! We had a few avocados that needed to be used yesterday so I sliced them up and put them on top. They added a buttery texture that only made the recipe better! Toph and I also despise onions so I left those out of the recipe as well. To those onion lovers, feel free to add them in!


After eating dinner and letting my stomach settle, I went out for a tempo run. With vacations and weddings, I haven't been able to get in as much speedwork as I would have liked in recent weeks, so I was a little apprehensive to go after it last night. The plan was to do 5 miles with 3 of them at tempo. When I was approaching mile 3, self-doubt started to creep in and I wanted to stop. My legs thought I could do it and so I pushed on for one more tempo mile. I completed the workout (tempo splits were 7:57, 7:54, 7:51), and I felt exhausted and accomplished at the same time. It was obvious during the workout that some of my fitness has dropped off since I was working with Coach Britt, but I knew this would happen. I'm just happy that I'm able to get out there and get these legs moving again! I think my next goal race is going to be the F^3 Half Marathon on Saturday, January 26. I'm going to be able to focus much more on my workouts after the exam on December 1. The temps last night were a little warmer than I had anticipated so I came back pretty sweaty from my workout.

Just a little sweaty

Do you like the recipes I occasionally post on my blog? Have any of you made any of the things I've posted?  Obviously I'm no chef, but I like to share when I find things that are easy and delicious! If you've made something I suggested, please let me know! :)

This week I decided to try and start speed work again in preparation of a 5k and half marathon I have coming up in October. After working out with Kate on Sunday, my arms were sore for most of the week. The soreness finally subsided yesterday, but I was worried how it would effect my running on Tuesday. Thankfully, it didn't. I wanted to kick things off with a tempo. I met up with the FNRC for the 2nd week in a row on a Tuesday. There are a few folks in the group who are around my pace and they were on board for the temp run attempt. However, I was a little rusty on how to properly adjust my Garmin. I had it set to the "average pace" function instead of the "lap pace" function so things didn't exactly go as planned.

The warm-up was a bit too fast at an 8:27 pace. The next two mile splits were exactly the same (including the turnaround) at 8:14. We picked it up for the last tempo mile and it was more 5k pace than tempo pace (7:21). The last mile I slowed things down for a legit cool-down (10:07). My legs felt great and I enjoyed pushing them, but I know this wasn't the best executed workout. However, I'm okay with it and this workout gave me a little bit of my confidence back. Next week I'll try something different for my speed work and I know it can only get better!

I don't really like to cook and when I make dinner, I look for the EASIEST recipes that include ingredients that we have on-hand. Thanks Pinterest for existing! Last night my husband and I wanted something lighter for dinner since neither of us were super hungry. I found an easy Pinterest recipe (found here) for a corn/tomato salad. I modified it slightly and left out some of the ingredients (on accident). My salad included:

All it needed was a quick toss and voila! I used the flash so things are kind of bright, but it was light, delicious, and totally hit the spot. I bought mozzarella cheese and croutons to use but totally forgot it. It still tasted good without it too! I made another one to bring to work today with the leftover corn and tomatoes.

After this delicious salad, I laid down to do my PT exercises. Pepper just wouldn't let me lay still so I did some strength training too. :)

Ropey is her 2nd favorite toy (after the tennis ball)

Last night was the standard Thursday night run with the FNRC. The group is kind of small this week but I'm hoping it continues to grow as the weather gets nicer.

Genevieve, Kate (with Bo), Maggie, and me

The workout on my plan was a tempo run. 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at tempo 8:08 pace, and a 1 mile cool down. I ran the first mile with Maggie and then took off. I forgot to switch my watch from average pace to current pace so I had no idea what my pace was until I hit the first mile marker. Mile 1: 7:17... I stared at my Garmin in disbelief. Well, that is about 1 minute too fast... I consciously tried to slow it down for the 2nd mile. Mile 2: 7:27... Not really slowed down. Since I haven't done a tempo run before, I guess I underestimated what is comfortably fast. I was definitely out of my comfort zone and pushing pretty hard. I tried to slow down more for the last tempo mile, Mile 3: 7:54. Then I did my cool down and couldn't believe what just happened. First thing I thought was how I need to remember to adjust my Garmin to show current pace instead of average pace for my next tempo run. Then, I couldn't decide if I was mad I didn't meet my targets, or happy that my 5k goal seems more achievable than ever (goal: to have a 22:xx time).

I got home and felt sick but it was pretty obvious why. I pushed it really hard in my run today and my pre-run fuel of cupcakes and beer probably wasn't the best idea. I knew it wouldn't be, but I couldn't pass it up. I guess there were quite a few lessons learned from yesterday's workout. Tomorrow is another day. This weekend I'm going up to my husband's family summer cottage and will be doing a loop around a nearby lake.

P.S. I'm not really a huge fan of Crumbs Bakery! Their red velvet cupcakes were made with buttercream frosting and not cream cheese frosting. Although, they are still better than no cupcakes. :)