Wayfarer's Annapolis 10k, Training week 10

The race I'm working toward is the Wayfarer's Annapolis 10k in June.  This used to be a Zooma race and I did it in 2017 when it was still run by Zooma.  I'm excited to see how it's different now.  And Annapolis was a beautiful city to run in.  I haven't really trained for a 10k since my first 10k in 2014.  Since then, any 10k's I've run had been part of training for a longer race.

It's race week already!  The Spring has flown by and we're almost to June.  I'm excited about the race and my mini girl's trip to Annapolis.  And overall, I'm pretty happy with how my training cycle has gone.

Last week's training was ok.  I rolled Monday into the weekend since it was a long weekend and therefore was able to get all my runs done, along with 1 strength training session (instead of the 2 I wanted) and one yoga practice. Here are the details.

Monday - planned rest day

Tuesday - unplanned rest day

Wednesday - 1 mile warm up, 4x 4 minutes, 1/2 mile cool down.  Those 4 minute intervals were tough.  I was shooting for 11:30 pace and I was faster than that on all my intervals so I was pretty pleased.

Thursday - unplanned rest day

Friday - 4 mile easy paced run

Saturday - 4.5 mile easy paced run along with strength training at the gym.

We also went over to a friend's house in the evening and I spent lots of time petting her pups :)

Sunday - 30 minute walk plus yoga in the evening.  My knee was hurting so I decided to take advantage of the extra day in the weekend and move my long run to Monday.

Lots of bunnies out in the neighborhood this week

Monday - 2.5 miles easy, 5x 3 minutes, 1 mile cool down.  The run went well and my knee didn't seem to be hurting any more so yay!  We also went out later in the day to catch a movie (Book Smart) and play some games at Dave and Buster's.

So overall it was a nice, relaxing long weekend.  Here's the plan for this week.

Tuesday - strength training
Wednesday - 1 mile warm up, 7x 100 meters, 1 mile cool down
Thursday - 2 miles easy
Friday - rest day
Saturday - 10k Race Day!
Sunday - Walking and yoga

Wayfarers Annapolis 10k, Training week 9

The race I'm working toward is the Wayfarer's Annapolis 10k in June.  This used to be a Zooma race and I did it in 2017 when it was still run by Zooma.  I'm excited to see how it's different now.  And Annapolis was a beautiful city to run in.  I haven't really trained for a 10k since my first 10k in 2014.  Since then, any 10k's I've run had been part of training for a longer race.

Last week went ok.  I got in my runs but sadly didn't get in any strength training.  I had my period and was dealing with cramps at the beginning of the week.  But at least I got my runs in so I'm ok with that.  For some reason I can't access Garmin at the moment so I'll have to add photos in later.

Monday - Planned rest day

Tuesday - Unplanned rest day since I wasn't feeling well.

Wednesday -  1 mile warm up, 5x 3 minutes, .5 mile cool down.  This went pretty well, My intervals were all faster than my goal time but fairly consistent.  The last 2 were slower but only by 2 seconds.

Thursday - 60 minutes on the elliptical at the gym

Friday - Unplanned rest day

Saturday - 5 miles at an easy pace.  We also went out for dinner and a fun show Saturday night.

Vegan nachos from Busboys and Poets.  I could barely eat half of it.

Sunday - Met up with a friend to run on a trail in her neighborhood.  We didn't start until 9am and it was hot and humid!  We did 2 miles warm up, 3 miles marathon pace (instead of the 4 planned), 1 mile 10k pace, and 1 mile cool down.

This week should be fairly routine.  Here's the plan.

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - 1 mile warm up, 4x 4 minutes, 1/2 mile cool down
Wednesday - strength training
Thursday - 4 miles easy
Friday - strength training
Saturday - 4.5 easy miles
Sunday - 2.5 miles easy, 5x 3 minutes, 1 mile cool down

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown!

Wayfarer's Annapolis 10k - Training week 8

The race I'm working toward is the Wayfarer's Annapolis 10k in June.  This used to be a Zooma race and I did it in 2017 when it was still run by Zooma.  I'm excited to see how it's different now.  And Annapolis was a beautiful city to run in.  I haven't really trained for a 10k since my first 10k in 2014.  Since then, any 10k's I've run had been part of training for a longer race.

Last week was a little tough since I was in Atlanta for work.  When I travel with my boss, she tends to schedule us pretty tightly with meetings all day and often includes breakfast and dinner meetings as well.  So I was pretty exhausted when I got back as well.  But overall, the week went ok.  I missed a couple workouts but felt ok about it because I wanted to prioritize sleep as well.  Here are the details.

Monday - I was making up my long run from the previous day.  I got in my miles and was pretty happy with my paces.

Tuesday - Rest day and traveling to Atlanta.  Between the airport and the conference, I managed to get in more than 10,000 steps even with it being a rest day.

Wednesday - No breakfast meeting so I got up early to get in a run before my meetings.

Thursday - Strength Training - I had a 2 hour break between meetings and dinner so I used that to get in some weights at the hotel gym.

Friday - Rest day and traveling back home.  I had thought about getting up early to get in a run but I was too tired and decided on extra sleep instead.

Saturday - Rest day.  I had hoped to get up and get a run in but I was still pretty tired and decided to just enjoy being back at home.

Sunday - 2.5 miles.  It was supposed to be rainy pretty much all day with a break in the rain around 10 am.  I was hoping to get in 3 easy miles but it started raining harder and harder during my run, and I heard thunder at one point.  So my pace was definitely faster than an easy pace and I called it a day around 2.5 miles.  I joined Mike at the gym after that to get some strength training in.

This week is back to routine at home.  Here's the plan.

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - 1 mile warm up, 5x 3 minutes, .5 mile cool down
Wednesday - strength training
Thursday - 4 miles easy
Friday - strength training
Saturday - 5 easy miles
Sunday - 2 miles easy, 4 mile marathon pace, 1 mile half marathon pace, 1 mile cool down

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown!

Plant based eating

As I've mentioned on the blog before, I've been trying to go more plant based for a couple months now.  I've been vegetarian my whole life but want to transition to being vegan, mostly for health reasons.  My cholesterol has always been really high (good cholesterol is super high too) but it does better when I don't eat dairy. 

I've been doing ok but transitioning seems to be kind of an easy slide into eating dairy again and once a week turns into twice a week, etc.  So starting May 1st, I've decided to just flip the switch and eat completely vegan.  And because Mike is awesome, he's joining me in making May vegan month for him as well. 

Savory oatmeal with tofu and mushrooms

So far so good.  It's only been a week but I haven't had any slips.  Breakfast and lunch have been easy.  Breakfast has been oatmeal (I've been making a big batch of steel cut oats on the weekend to eat throughout the week, I have savory and sweet options). 

Chickpea salad sandwich

Lunch has been either tofu banh-mi style sandwiches or chick pea salad sandwiches.  I supplement that with fruit and raw veggies with guacamole.

Vegan lasagna soup

And I'm working on simple, quick weekday dinners that can be plant based.  We've done a simple pasta with roasted veggies and tomato sauce, and we have an easy chickpea stew that I can do.  We also do a veggie banh mi that just needed us to switch from mayo to veganaise to be vegan.  I also have a lot of vegan soup recipes but I'm not sure we'll want soup in the Summer.  I'll see what else I come up with.  And of course, I'm happy to take help from vegan prepared foods from the grocery store as needed.

 

I love the vegan options at Trader Joe's, like this cauliflower gnocchi

But eating out is really where I had been falling off the wagon  before.  What I've found in this past week is that it just takes a little more planning and research.  Thankfully we have a couple places near us where it's easy to get plant based meals if we need a quick meal.  There's Chipotle for Mexican, Honeygrow for stir-fry/noodles, Cava for mediterranean, and Mod pizza as well as &Pizza have vegan cheese.  So we're definitely lucky that way.  When we went to Baltimore this weekend, I was able to find a place that had vegan options in their menu such as the impossible burger and a vegan BLT.  We just had to research in advance and drive a tiny bit further but it was worth it.

This week is going to be a bit tough since I'm traveling for a conference.  I've already done a little research and found places near the hotel that have vegan options.  But it's mostly the conference provided meals that I'm a little worried about.  We'll see how it goes!

Wayfarer's Annapolis 10k - Training week 7

The race I'm working toward is the Wayfarer's Annapolis 10k in June.  This used to be a Zooma race and I did it in 2017 when it was still run by Zooma.  I'm excited to see how it's different now.  And Annapolis was a beautiful city to run in.  I haven't really trained for a 10k since my first 10k in 2014.  Since then, any 10k's I've run had been part of training for a longer race.

This week was pretty food but there was a bit of a damper at the end of the week due to the rain.  Training went well for the most part but rain all day on Sunday kind of derailed my long run.  But that's ok, I have a plan to deal with it.  Here are the details of last week.

Monday - Strength training

Tuesday - Planned rest day.  I also found out I'm getting an award at the conference I'm going to this week.  They sent the plaque in the mail since not all of the recipients will be present at the conference.

Wednesday - 2 mile warm up, 5x 3 minutes/2 minutes recovery, 1 mile cool down.  This went ok, I went out way too fast on the first interval and then tried to slow it down, but all of the intervals were faster then my goal of 11:30.  So even though I faded a bit in the later intervals, I still was faster than the assigned pace.

Thursday - Strength training

Friday - 4 easy miles

Saturday - 5 easy miles with a friend.  I'm not sure what was going on with this run.  My heart rate was really nice and low but I still had a hard time with my breathing.

Sunday - It was raining in the morning but the forecast said the rain should stop by 4, so I planned to run at 4.  But I kept waiting and it never stopped raining.  I think it finally tapered off a bit after 7, but that meant there was only 1 hour of light left and I needed 2 hours of running.  So I decided to do strength training instead, and I 'll take off work an hour early today to get in my 7 miles.

We also had plans to go to the Maryland zoo in Baltimore.  My Christmas present from Mike was the penguin experience at the zoo and we got to pet the penguins!  In addition, since it was rainy, there was hardly anyone else at the zoo.  It felt like we had the whole zoo to ourselves the first hour or so we were there.  The animals seemed to be particularly interested in us and a lot of them came right up to the glass so we had a great time there.

This week is going to be a bit tough since I'm traveling for work.  Here's the plan.

Monday - 2 miles easy, 3 mile marathon pace, 1 mile half marathon pace, 1 mile cool down
Tuesday - 4 miles easy pace
Wednesday - 1 mile warm up, 5x 100m, 1 mile cool down
Thursday - rest day
Friday - strength training
Saturday - 4 easy miles
Sunday - 4 easy mile + 1 mile at 5k pace

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown!