Spring Forward

Clever title, given the time of year, eh? I had completely forgotten that Arizona does not participate in Daylight Savings Time and boy, was I happy about that. I don't know about you but springing the clocks forward was always harder to adjust to than falling back. To all of my friends in the rest of the country: I feel for you.

I thought I'd run out of fun things to talk about since race training is done for the time being but I actually have lots to share this week. Of course, we'll start with all things running related. My coach had advised me to lay low for a few days after the race, so I did. I still got my lifting routine in but it felt good to give my feet a break for a bit. The 20-minute Epsom salt bath I took Monday morning felt amazing. Don't ever underestimate someone who is training for a race that isn't a long distance. We still are working just as hard as you are on that half marathon/marathon/ultra/superman distance. Strava had reminded me it was time for new shoes so first thing Monday morning, I ordered some. Retiring old running shoes is almost bittersweet, especially when they carry a lot of great memories, but lacing up new shoes is like driving a brand new car! I've always wore Saucony shoes so naturally, I ordered another pair of Guide's but also added my first pair of trail shoes to the collection!

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  Saucony Peregrine 8

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  Saucony Guide ISO

I actually have those same exact Guide's already in my retirement closet but I couldn't pass up the price. Now let's talk about the trail shoes! I was lucky enough to talk with the Saucony rep's at last weekend's race and they advised me to try the Peregrine shoes. Let me tell you, they are awesome! They almost feel exactly like my Guide's but with beefier tread. I couldn't wait to test them out. I'm a very novice trail runner so I just headed to the one trail I knew that's in town that I had ran before. I took it slow and listened to my body since it was my first run back from resting. Everything felt really great. The shoes were comfortable, had great grip, and I didn't feel like I had two bricks strapped to my feet. Trail running is definitely something I plan to dive more into as I like the slower pace, the views, and the change of terrain.

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  Cloudy trail views

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  Happy trail runner

Monday (today), I plan to just coast through some base building runs for the next month. I won't start race training again until summer. My goal is to gain more strength, keep up with mobility training, and hit more trails. A lot of runners I see do not keep up with strength training and I really think it's kept me in the best shape I've ever been, running-wise. There's also supplement support I rely on that I haven't really talked a ton about. First off is my pre-workout. Is it an absolute need? No. Does it help me focus and give me the extra boost? Yes. So why not just drink a cup of coffee? I do enjoy coffee, don't get me wrong. My stomach, however, doesn't enjoy it as much if I start doing activity too soon after drinking it. I've been using Energize for quite some time now and can't suggest a better pre-workout supplement. I like my supplements to be clean and absent from artificial ingredients and sweeteners. This one, in particular, I was slightly worried about because of the "Fruit Punch" color as most use some type of dye. I was happy to find out that the color is from beet juice! The caffeine is from green tea extract and one serving is equivalent to about one cup of coffee. You can give it a try by buying a 10-pack by clicking this link if you're curious about it. The lemon flavor is also really great! So now we have the before help but what about the after? That's where I throw in Nuun. Again, we have an electrolyte supplement free of anything fake. It puts your Gatorade to shame. I simply throw in one tablet into 16oz of water and drink it after every run. I also use their Immunity tablets as well to keep up on my health. They just released Nuun Rest which I'm very excited to give a shot soon. You can head to their website by clicking here. Right now, through 3/24/2019, if you buy 4 tubes of Nuun, you can get a free tube of Rest by using the code NUUNREST. If you've tried it, I'd love to know your review! Okay, sales pitch done.

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Last week, I know I mentioned I didn't have a recipe to share but was going to be trying something new. Good news: it was freakin' delicious and I'm very excited to share this one. Last fall, I started trying Chipotle's sofritas to transition from eating meat to vegetarian. I didn't really know what I was getting into and thought tofu was weird and flavorless. Their sofritas are pretty good! What I don't like is spending $12 on a burrito bowl, though. My husband actually thought up this dinner idea so I took to the power of Google for a Mexican-inspired tofu recipe. Insert a copy-cat Chipotle recipe here!

Copy-cat Chipotle Sofritas

As I've confessed previously in probably more than one post, I love Mexican food. I never turn down the idea of eating it. I'm lucky to live near two food joints that offer really good vegetarian options as well. This dish was amazing. Although it looks complicated with everything on my plate, it really wasn't. The perfect amount of spice from the poblano pepper and adobo just lights up your tastebuds. I paired it with some homemade cilantro and lime rice, sautéed peppers and onions, and vegetarian refried beans. Oh, and of course, a Corona. Your sides can be different! Definitely worth a try even if you don't like tofu. You'd be surprised how much you'll enjoy this one. You can find the recipe here. If tofu sounds straight up disgusting to you, I'm sure you could use chicken as well.

That's all for this week, folks! I keep talking about how I'd like to showcase some of my favorite podcasts I listen to while on either long runs or stuck on the treadmill so I'll try and post those up later in the week. Thanks for stopping by!