Oh man, it was quite the week of things! I hung out a lot outdoors, crossed a few things off of my Summer Bucket List, spent a day in the doctor’s office (nothing serious!), and had my 2nd week of taper before Grandma’s Marathon! Read all about it below.
FOOD:
- Last Saturday I made a batch of healthy waffles (oat flour, protein powder, flax meal, banana, almond milk, cinnamon, etc) and then froze the leftovers. For breakfast this week I’ve been popping them in the toaster and topping them with fresh fruit and a little bit of Greek yogurt. It makes me really happy.
- Lunch has consisted of big quinoa salads with spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and artichokes with a simple olive oil/lemon juice dressing. So good!
- I had an abundance of vegetables in my fridge this week. All the fresh spring/summer produce always looks too good to pass up at the grocery store and I end up with probably too much for a single person. Somehow I manage to eat through it before it goes bad. I love my vegetables! Dinners this week (when I was actually home for dinner) have been huge salads full of fresh veggies (radishes, asparagus, summer squash, cucumber, tomatoes, etc).
There was also been a lot of fun meals with friends. More below!
FITNESS:
- Monday: Strength training + easy run. I fit in some strength training over lunch and did 3 rounds each of the following circuits: 1st – biceps curls, hammer curls, rotator cuff, squat, bent-over rows, side dips; 2nd – abductor, adductor, leg lifts; 3rd – chest press, front and lateral shoulder raises, bench dips. Then later that evening I met Cara, one of my CRT guides, for a run in St. Paul. We tested a potential new City Running Tour route – get excited!. Total = 5.5 miles; untimed.
- Tuesday: Easy run. A nice morning run with Monica before it got way too hot outside. After work I went on a little bike ride. Total = 5.0 miles; 9:17 min/mile pace + ~11 mile bike ride.
- Wednesday: Yoga. I finally went to Meggan’s yoga class at Lake of the Isles (The Yoga Garage). It was a great class and the most perfect weather for yoga outside. I’m excited to go again! It will be every Wednesday at 7:00 by Lake of the Isles if you ever want to go check it out.
- Thursday: Easy run + intervals. I did a run in the morning with Monica and some quick treadmill intervals after work. Total = 5.5 miles; 9:35 min/mile + 8 x 1-minute intervals.
- Friday: Yoga sculpt at Yoga Sol with my friend Jorden. I need to add more of this into my weekly routine. It’s such a great way to kick off a Friday!
- Saturday: Long run. My last long run before Grandma’s Marathon! I can’t believe it’s next week already! I’m slightly freaking out. Total = 10 miles; 9:25 min/mile pace.
- Sunday: An nice, easy run without my Garmin. Total = ~4 miles; untimed.
In a few of my previous post (like here and here) I mentioned some issues with a weird heartbeat while running. I finally went to the doctor last week to get it checked out and had some abnormal EKG results. Umm… scary. On Tuesday I went to get an echocardiogram and see a Cardiologist. Fortunately, the appointment went as well as I could have hoped – no major issues! *happy dance* I just get a premature heartbeat (arrthymia) every so often, which is probably exercise induced. The Cardiologist explained why I had abnormal EKG results and set me up with a patch to monitor my heart over the next two weeks to make sure everything looks ok while I exercise. It’s a little bit obnoxious and only a little bit obvious. I’m hoping it stays on through the marathon! Then I’ll send it off to the lab and the Cardiologist will let me know my results.
OTHER FUN THINGS:
There were too many fun things going on this week!
- I tested a potential new City Running Tour route in St. Paul with one of my new guides. We went from the Running Room on Grand Avenue to the Capitol and back. The new route will be launched soon! Feel free to sign up.
- On Tuesday it was my friend Sigrid’s birthday and she had a little gathering over at Sea Salt to celebrate. I biked over there with my friend Natalie. It was a fantastic, super hot, summer evening with lots of friends.
- General Mills had a big company meeting at the Minneapolis Event Center on Wednesday. Everyone wore branded shirts, so if you saw lots of Green Giants, Pillsbury Doughboys, and Buzz Bees running around downtown Minneapolis, that is why.
- On Wednesday evening I biked over to Lake of the Isles for my friend Meggan’s Yoga Garage yoga class with Natalie and Senthil (see how awesome that Zio patch looks?!). It was the most perfect evening for yoga! Afterwards we biked over to Tin Fish for some fish tacos and good times. It was my first time doing yoga at Isles and my first time going to Tin Fish!
- My friends Kenny and Megan had Natalie and I over for dinner on Thursday night. We had breakfast for dinner (BFD = the best), these bacon nut bourbon brownies, and a lot of silly conversations.
- Monica, Natalie, and I did a little day trip to Stillwater on Saturday, AKA Tour de Stilly. We walked around downtown, had lunch at Lolo, beer at Maple Island Brewing, saw the lift bridge, and finished the afternoon off with wine and snacks at Northern Vineyards Winery. It was cloudy and a little bit rainy, but we made our own sunshine until the real sun decided to show up later in the afternoon.