Ahhhhh February... Never a dull moment in the weather department.
As all of my Maine readers have noticed, today everyone is digging out from a substantial storm.
However, this is a recap of LAST week and talking about this weeks storm would be cheating.
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| Last week, some relative calm before storm after storm moved in. |
So week six, what did we do other than move snow?
I was able to get a couple outdoor workouts in early last week, including speedwork. I prefer to do speedwork outside, for no reason other than it is more fun. I ran 4x1200 all at a 7:30 pace which I was quite pleased with.
From then.... Things got messy.
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| It actually ended up being even worse than this...
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I wasn't terribly excited about the possibility of doing both my Friday hills and Saturday long run inside.. As you can see, there really wasn't going to be an option. (we ended up getting about 10 inches on Thursday, 6 on Saturday and between Sunday and Monday another 16+)
My long run was fairly uninspired. I really was not feeling my best for the first 6 miles or so (ugh female issues..) I ended up toughing it out, and felt a bit better as the miles went along. Workouts like this are tough, because it would be awfully easy to just hop off the treadmill, or stop for a quick second (or a few minutes here and there....) I know that in the long run, a run like that is not going to be of any benefit, so I trudge along. However, I certainly did relax my pace and expectations since I was feeling sub par. I'm not crazy after all....
When things get super sucky, I just take it one mile at a time. I cut myself a little slack. Once I only had 4 miles to go, I knew I could finish and that was encouraging. I did eventually finish, and I felt alright. Hopefully, next week's long run feels a bit more pleasant.
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| 16 miles inside.... Tricky. |
Earlier this winter, when I was getting ready to start training seriously again I asked what you, my loyal 11 readers, would like to know more about (since I am such an interesting woman!!)
What Eric and I eat was of curiosity, and since he is a vegetarian and I am not, it is actually an interesting topic!!
First and foremost, it should be made clear that I am NO expert on health and nutrition! I slug beer, drink bourbon and occasionally toss entire donuts straight down my throat. We don't Whole 30 (good for you, those who do. To me, it doesn't seem like a sustainable lifestyle, but what do I know?) But we do try to eat a simple, balanced and fresh group of foods.
Our meals are based on two things. How we feel after eating them, and how easy they are. Neither of us enjoys feeling like garbage and we don't have hours each day to create gourmet meals. (So, not much/any fast food. And not many/any recipes from Mastering the art of French cooking.)
Eric is a real veggie, he doesn't have cheat days where he eats bacon, and he never has had meat of any sort (to the best of his knowledge.) I myself, while not a ravenous carnivore, enjoy steak and a good thanksgiving turkey. I did go through a phase when I was 14 of not eating meat, I was repulsed by the idea of eating muscles (I got over that... although seriously *yuck* haha.)
The NUMBER one question that we get (which will not shock ANYONE) is how on earth either of us, on a mostly plant based diet, could EVER be getting enough protein. *sigh* I know, it's hard to imagine that it could be done...It's actually quite easy, and with the quantities of eggs, beans, Greek yogurt, quinoa and such that we consume, we seem to be surviving. *barely* *send donuts*
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| Kale and chard with garlic and olive oil, avocado, and stuffed mushrooms. A standard dinner option. |
While many of those things make an occasional appearance, it's very unusual to see these on the menu with much frequency.
So what do we eat regularly? Especially since I am not a short order chef!
We eat a lot (a LOT) of Mexican themed food. We stuff burritos (or bowls) with homemade spicy black beans, and a variety of other fillings such as sweet potato, quinoa, eggs, avocados, loads of garlicky spinach or kale, salsa and Greek yogurt.
We often substitute mushrooms as a "meat" and have a variety of sides, usually in the green leafy veg family. (we go through pounds of spinach a week. and avocados, as mentioned...)
When we do have pasta it's usually the after thought in the recipe. Our pasta meals are much heavier on the beans/greens/veggies than the pasta itself. I made a lot of nice homemade sauce when the ingredients are available, which is always tasty.
*and occasionally I just cook up a pot of pasta, heave in some artichokes, olives, lemon and feta and we woof it right down. try it, pro tip...*
I LOVE to make grain or rice based salads, which are all seriously filling meals. Quinoa pairs so nicely with grapes, nuts, beans and oil and vinegar dressing. Wild rice salad is delicious with chopped kale or shredded brussles sprouts, beans, shredded carrots and creamy vinaigrette.
Even easier, is to throw some diced avocado, garbanzo beans, scallions, feta and lime into a dish and call it good. Easy. (there are a TON of good recipes on the internet.) Salads don't have to be limited to lettuce....
Anyways. I'm really not much of a food blogger but it is interesting to see how different people eat. And this is how the Bradlowski family does food!
One of my big goals for the year was/is to waste less, and thus far we have been doing very well! Meal planning is pretty essential to this, and it's a skill that I am working on improving. I'm getting a lot better at freezing things right away, and planning a week of meals with similar ingredients. (I know that for some of you, this is second nature... Not for me, but I'm working on it!)
Like I said before, we aren't "super clean" perfect eaters. Who the hell is?? And why!? Live a little.
We wrap up every day with a couple cookies or chocolate squares. As you may have noticed, I wrap up every day with a beer. We are pretty much guaranteed to have a pizza a week (home made, so better than Amato's!) We have cheese and crackers every day. When we eat out, we get whatever and have zero worries. We both really like Holy Donuts, and Eric loves oreo's so much that we never buy them! (and I like caramel creams so much that I buy one bag a year, eat it in like, 3 days and then don't want one for another year. #sohealthy)
Another fun fact. I don't really eat breakfast foods. For breakfast I have a slice of toast (which is pretty breakfastey) and then good things, like dinner leftovers. Weird, but true.
So there you have it, how Eric and I fuel our ELITE athlete training :-)
And here is the weekly wrap up:
Weekly stats:
Miles run: 40.1
Longest run: 16 ON the TREADMILL WOOF
Other: 2 strength workouts, snow removal, chipping my horse trailer out of an ice block.
Wildlife sightings: 36 wild turkeys, faffing around in the street
Low/High temps: 1/46. It was mostly freezing and snowing and a suckfest.
How am I feeling? SO over winter. And sore because I fell down my outdoor steps.
Beer of the week: I'm still drinking last weeks beers because who can go out when it's stupid snowing EVERY DAMN DAY????????????
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