Plans for the Spring

It's almost Spring!  February is over this weekend and I'm pretty excited about Spring coming up.  I'm looking forward to the warmer weather and to having more daylight.  I'm joining Fairytales and Fitness for their Friday link up to talk about the other things I have coming up in Spring that I'm looking forward to.

 

1. Splurging for our dating anniversary - Mike and I met in March and we always celebrate in a little way, though we usually leave the big splurge for our marriage anniversary in the Fall.  But this year, we have a certificate for a free hotel room that needs to be used!  So we're planning a weekend in the city, complete with show tickets and reservations for a couple restaurants I've been wanting to try.  

2. Star Wars 10k in April - We're going to Disney World!  It will be Mike's first 10k and I'm pretty excited for the trip we have planned.

Photo  from the Star Wars half in 2017

3. Camping trip in May - I have a weekend getaway planned with a friend the first weekend of May.  It's only a couple hours from DC, in Virginia.  It will just be the two of us and her adorable dog.  I've been researching hiking trails that will be close and am really looking forward to it.  I think we could both use a nice, quiet get away.  We'll be staying in these Getaway Cabins that look like a perfect mix of comfort and unplugging.   

 

Photo from their website 

So those are a couple things I'm looking forward to in the next few months.  I hope you all have some fun things planned too!

Pike's Peek 10k Training Week 5

I hope you're all doing well!  I had a bit of a mixed bag last week. The knee pain was definitely better and I was able to run a bit, but I'm just impatient and want it to get better faster.  But here are the details.

Monday - Planned rest day

Tuesday - Unplanned rest day to give my knee more of a break

Wednesday - Went for a run and it went ok.  Did more walking than normal because of my knee but it was nice to get out there.

Thursday - treadmill at the gym.  I mentioned that the branch of Gold's Gym I usually went to closed a couple months ago.  I've been trying out other branches in the area and the one I tried out last week was the worst.  The equipment was all pretty old.  My initial plan was the elliptical but none of them seemed to work well.  So I just went slow on the treadmill with lots of walking.

Friday - Videos from fitness blender, one for core and one for legs.  These are the same ones I did last week.

We also went out for tacos and margaritas in the evening.

Saturday - Unplanned rest day.  I had initially thought of doing a run this day but changed my mind so my legs were rested for my Sunday run.  We met up with people for a friend's birthday brunch in the afternoon.

Sunday - 5 miles.  I did 3.5 miles with Mike and I felt really good!  It was a beautiful day and I wasn't having any knee pain.  So I decided to keep going a bit longer on my own since I was enjoying the mild weather.  This was perhaps not the best decision as I started experiencing knee pain around mile 4.  But anyway, I finished 5 miles.  I also worked a lot on recovery with icing, foam rolling, my foot/calf massager, and some recovery yoga in the evening.

I'm still sore today but it's not really knee pain.  It's just generalized soreness in my thighs.  So I'm hopeful that I didn't set my recovery back and I'll be able to get back on schedule this week.  Here's the plan for this week.

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - Speed work (1 mile warm up, 6 x 2 minutes, .5 mile cool down)
Wednesday - Strength training
Thursday - 3 easy miles
Friday - Strength training
Saturday - 3 miles
Sunday - 6 miles

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

 

Pike's Peek 10k Training Week 4

Since Monday was a holiday, I'm a day late with my training recap.  I fully enjoyed having that extra day off yesterday and relaxing.  But better late than never!   So here's my recap of last week.  Sadly, I had knee pain and that really kept me from getting a lot of work outs in. It feels a lot better today so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get back to running this week.

Monday - planned rest day

Tuesday - 2 videos on Fitness blender, one for lower body and one for abs

Wednesday - My knee felt better so I did 40 minutes on the elliptical.

Thursday and Friday - Unplanned rest days. Perhaps I went back to working out too soon because my knees were back in pain these two days.  I did get my hair cut on Friday and tried something a little different :)  We went out with friends Friday and Saturday evening so it was a chance to get a bit dolled up.

Saturday - 40 minutes on the bike at the gym

Sunday - 30 minute yoga video

And that was it for the week.  I did try to go out for a run yesterday and I could tell within a few steps that was not the right decision.  So I changed it to a walk as my knees have gotten better to the point that walking doesn't hurt.  And that way I was able to enjoy the beautiful weather we had yesterday. I'm not sure what was going on with my knee.  All I can think is that I had toe pain before doing the 5k last weekend.  Maybe I was running weird or overcompensating some how and that put more pressure on my knees.

Here's the plan for this week, though I'll definitely keep adjusting if needed.

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - Strength training
Wednesday - 3 miles
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - Strength training
Saturday - 3 miles
Sunday - 5 miles

Falling For You 5k

I'm excited to join a new link up that just started last week.  Join your hosts Coach Debbie Runs, Running on Happy, Confessions of a Mother Runner, Mile by Mile, Runs with Pugs, and Fauxrunner each week for the Runners' Roundup linkup!  You can post your favorite running tips, experiences, race and training recaps, workouts, gear, and coaching ideas. 

I'm going to recap the Falling For You 5k that Mike and I ran last weekend. For the back story, we had signed up for a 5k with this company in January.  However, that 5k got cancelled at the last minute due to course flooding.  The race organizer gave us a code to use to sign up for one of their other races and we saw that this one was not that too far from us so we chose it as our replacement race.

And I'm glad we did!  It was a beautiful course without much hilliness.  It was on the C&O Canal Tow Path  by Great Falls.  There was a half marathon at 8am, a 10k at 8:30 and the 5k started at 9am.  Since it was at the Great Falls visitor center, there was plenty of parking and real bathrooms at the start.  There was a $20 fee for parking since it's a national park. 

The parking was handy since it was a cold morning and we could just wait in the car until 15 minutes before the race.

The 5k was pretty small with around 60 participants.  Since it was such a small race, bib pick up was just the morning before the race.  There was no option to pick it up in advance.

The course was on a crushed gravel trail and this time of year, a lot of the trail was packed dirt.  Thankfully it wasn't too muddy.  I was surprised by that given all the rain we've had recently.  The trail was of course open to others as well so there were a couple times that we had to pass groups of hikers.  But it wasn't too bad given that it was Winter and not too many people were out.  Mike and I were in the back of the pack anyway so we had plenty of room.

The only downside I have for this race is that they didn't have any food at the end.  I would have appreciated a banana.  It's not a big deal for us since we just did the 5k.  But I'm surprised given that there was also the 10k and half.  I would have given up the shirt and medal to have food instead.  It's clear where my priorities are!

But other than that, it was a great race.  Small but well organized and really friendly.  The beautiful trail is of course what really made it.  And it is close to Great Falls and the Billy Goat Trail in case you wanted to go hiking afterward!  We just took a photo of the falls and headed out to get food.

Pike's Peek 10k Training Week 3

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  It was a bit of a mixed bag here.  The work outs last week went ok as well.  I only got in 3 runs instead of the planned 4 due to rain and my schedule, but I did get in my 2 planned strength training sessions. Here are the details.

Monday - Strength training, same routine from the week before.

Tuesday - Unplanned rest day

Wednesday - Planned rest day since we had free tickets to a screening of Birds of Prey.

Thursday - Speed work, 1 mile warm up, 6 x 100m, 1 mile cool down.  I had to cut the cool down short because it got dark and it started raining again.  I was thankful that there was a short window in the rain so I could get outside for this workout and didn't have to do it on the treadmill.

Friday - Strength training, same routine as Monday

Saturday - 2.5 easy miles.

We also had a surprise party for a friend's 50th birthday in the afternoon.

Sunday - Make up 5k for the one that was cancelled a couple weeks ago.  We enjoyed the race but I'll post more details later in the week.

I'm not sure what's going on but I woke up with some weird toe pain on Sunday morning.  It's the second toe on my left foot.  I'm not sure if it's due to a lot of barefoot standing on hardwood at Saturday's party?  I don't think it's from running because it's in such a weird spot.  I went ahead and did the 5k Sunday morning anyway since I wasn't planning on racing it, it was just for fun.  I iced my toe a lot Sunday afternoon and took ibuprofen and plan to do the same today.  Fingers crossed the pain goes away soon.

So that was my week!  Here's the plan for this week, though I'll definitely adjust it if my toe isn't feeling better.

Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - Speed work (1 mile warm up, 8 x 100 meters, 1 mile cool down)
Wednesday - Strength training
Thursday - 2.5 easy miles
Friday - Strength training
Saturday - 3 miles
Sunday - 5 miles

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

 

Gratitude

One of the things I wanted to make sure to do this year is take note of the good things in my life and pay attention to all that I have to be thankful for. I'm joining Fairytales and Fitness for their Friday link up to talk about things that have happened this week that I'm grateful for.

 

1.  Mike put up this display of my marathon medal and I love it!

   

2. Mike also won free tickets to a screening of Birds of Prey.  It was a fun movie, though the violence level was a little graphic for me.  

3. I'm thankful for my dodging skills.  Shelby pushed a knife off the counter yesterday and it almost hit my foot!  I'm not sure if she was aiming for me or Perry.  Thankfully, we both escaped without injury :)

4. There's a new Star Wars app that came out that let's you make silly photos with Star Wars characters and I've been having a lot of fun with it :)

And I'm thankful that it's almost the weekend!  It's been a hard week at work so I'm especially glad for a bit of a break.  Anything you're really thankful for this week?  I'd love to hear about it.

Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower Casserole

I've been a vegetarian my whole life, so never really tasted buffalo sauce until recently.  Buffalo cauliflower became a popular option in the past several years and I have to admit, I love it!  I can't believe I've been missing out on this flavor.  But of course, buffalo cauliflower doesn't really seem like a meal.  I've had it as tacos before to make it more meal-like.  And now, I've found a new way to round this out into a meal... buffalo cauliflower casserole!

You all, this was so delicious!  It's vegan, gluten free, and pretty healthy.  It's also easy.  It does take some time in the over but most of the time is inactive so you can do other things while the casserole is cooking.  I started with the recipe I found on From My Bowl.  I only made some small adjustments.

Ingredients
 

• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth 
• 1/2 cup buffalo sauce (read the ingredients to check it's dairy free) 
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon onion powder 
• 1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped (the original recipe used celery but I hate celery)
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (the original recipe uses 2 cups of cooked chickpeas)
• 1/2 medium head of cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized florets
• 1 cup uncooked brown rice 
• Vegan ranch dressing and chopped green onions, for garnish (Optional) 

 

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Heat the broth, hot sauce, nutritional yeast, and onion powder in a medium pot over high heat until it comes to a boil. 
2. Pour the chickpeas in a 9×13″ casserole dish. Next layer the cauliflower and onion on top. Last, add the uncooked brown rice.
3. Remove the vegetable broth from the heat once it comes to a boil and pour the liquid evenly over the casserole dish. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 75 minutes. The original recipe said 60 minutes but the rice in ours was definitely not done at the 60 minute mark.
4. Remove from the oven and top with green onions and/or vegan ranch. 

And that's it!  If I made this again, I would probably add some green veggies (finely chopped broccoli or kale) to the casserole as well.  Serve it with a salad and it makes for a great meal.

Anyone else have a love of buffalo sauce that they try to indulge in creative ways?  I'd love to hear about it :)

Pike's Peek 10k Training Week 2

I hope everyone had a great week!  It was a pretty quiet one for me, which was nice.  It was good to have a bit of a break.  I did manage to get in all my runs so I'm pretty happy about that as well, though I wanted to get in one more strength training session than I did.  Oh well, here are the details.

Monday - Planned rest day

Tuesday - Unplanned rest day.  I meant to do some strength training here but I just forgot.  I hadn't been sleeping well and ended up going to bed early.  But I'm ok with that since I think I really needed the sleep.

Wednesday - Speed work.  1 mile warm up, 4 x 100 meters, 1 mile cool down.  This went pretty well.  My first interval looks a bit slower but that's because it's been so long since I've done structured speed work that I forgot where the right button on my watch was to end the interval!

Thursday - 2.5 easy miles

Friday - Strength training

Saturday - 3.5 easy miles

We also took Shelby to the vet today.  It's gotten to the point that because of her anxiety, we have to drug her up before taking her in.  So we planned to spend the rest of the day at home so we could keep an eye on her.  We had a nice day just relaxing.  Mike also set up a VR game called beat saber so we could try it out.  It was a lot of fun.

Sunday - 4.5 easy miles.  We did 2 miles together and then I finished the rest on my own.  I had checked the forecast and it said 0% chance of rain.  But it did rain and of course the only time it rained was during my run.  I thought about calling it but I just did some smaller loops around the house so I could run inside if it got really bad.  That worked out and I was able to finish my miles.

We also went out for brunch and a movie.  There was a Japanese animated film Mike wanted to see, Weathering With You.  It was ok, we both thought it was a bit slow paced and had a confusing story.

So that was my week!  Here's the plan for this week.

Monday - Strength Training
Tuesday - Speed work (1 mile warm up, 6 x 100 meters, 1 mile cool down)
Wednesday - Rest day (free movie screening for Birds of Prey)
Thursday - 2 miles on treadmill after work
Friday - Strength training
Saturday - 3 miles
Sunday - 3 miles

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