First and foremost, happy (late) Galentine's and Valentine's Day. I hope you spent it with someone special; maybe a person or your cat; or a bottle of wine you love more than humans. Either way, spread the love! Galentine's Day is "only the best day of the year" as Leslie Knope would say.
As I've mentioned previously, speed work has never been my strong suit. I like to blame that on never really working on it. Ever. I think I just dreaded the thought of dying while trying to keep upright on the ground at a pace I'm not used to going. But it's 2019 and I told myself I would build the foundation of my running career from the bottom up again and that includes working on speed. Do I want to be the fastest runner out there? Hell to the no. I like to think I'm a 'middle of the pack' kind of runner. Are there still some personal records I'd like to smash before coasting it? Absolutely. Speed work and I will become good friends whether I want to extend that welcoming hand (foot) or not. Week 3 of training introduced my first speed-focused workout in over five months. As my coach said, "it's going to be a real rust-buster" and boy, was it. But first, let's take a glance at the numbers for the week:
2/11 - Easy miles with strides 
2/13 - Fartlek 
2/14 - Recovery Miles 
2/16 - Long run with faster end
Not going to lie, I felt super strong this week. I don't know if it's because I've upped my carb intake by almost 100g or if keeping up with my current lifting workout program has helped (it has). Either way, I didn't drastically fail my first Fartlek workout. I also didn't go into it thinking I would because that only sets yourself up for defeat. When Kristen (my coach) told me my current threshold pace, I literally said out loud "Seriously!?". I think I underestimate myself as a runner all too often and I don't believe I'm capable of the things I do sometimes but damn, this whole thing is working out to my benefit and is really getting me psyched up for race day. But before we're waving streamers in the air and having celebratory drinks, we still have two more weeks of hard work and keeping the mindset level. With a specific pace to hit on the next Fartlek workout and an increase in the number of intervals, we'll see if we proved more successful than the last. Saturday was my longest run of this cycle topping out at 50 minutes. My fellow Volée bird, Jen, back in the Mitten, sent me some Run Gum samples because I was curious how it worked. I tried it before both my Fartlek and long runs. I was honestly surprised at how much energy I felt from just chewing a little piece of gum! I am definitely now a team Run Gum believer and I highly suggest trying it if you haven't. If you click HERE you can get $5 off! Thanks again, Jen! Heads up, Wings out!
As mentioned before, I've upped my carb intake by about 100g. Eating carbs are actually good for you? Shocking, I know. Can you hint the sarcasm? In all seriousness, yes. As a runner (or a normal human being), we feed off of carbs. Eat the right kinds and your body will love you. I'm not a nutritionist nor do I claim to be one but quinoa rocks. It is not only an amazing complex carb but also has a good source of protein. This week, I'd like to share the recipe we prepped for lunch. Of course, it comes from my favorite recipe website, Simply Quinoa. You can click here for the deets. It's a quinoa fried rice with tofu made in my pressure cooker in 6 minutes. You really have no excuse not to meal prep with this one for how quickly it's done. If you aren't rocking the 'No Meat Athlete' lifestyle like I am, you can certainly add chicken or maybe jazz it up with some shrimp.
Lastly, I'd like to leave you with a great quote I shared earlier in the week on my Instagram. It's from the book I've been reading in my spare time, 'Eat & Run' by Scott Jurek. I think it really resonates with me finally coming to terms with enjoying running as a whole and not just focusing on what I can't do but rather what I've accomplished.
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