Fitness Friday

Happy Friday!

Last night I attended my United Way's Flavor of the North event. Last year, Trav and I got to go with company tickets. This year my company didn't get tickets. Sad face. At $50 a pop, it was a little out of my budgeted spending for the month. So, I opted to volunteer instead. Best decision ever!

I got to help out with the wine & beer tasting table. There was also a rep from the liquor store hosting the table. He had me try the wines first - hey, all in a day's work, right? I think he was pleased that I was slightly knowledgeable of the wine world to begin with. We had a great time chatting about different wines & wineries.

I also got to taste all the food. Because, hello, that's really why I was there. I felt bad that I kept leaving my table partner, but he didn't want to eat and was totally cool with me jetting off a time or two. I'm still in a food coma from all the good food. Walleye cakes, garlic & coconut shrimp, cranberry meatloaf, artisan breads, desserts as far as the eye can see...

Let's just say that it was a good thing I ran 6 miles yesterday morning.

With that said, here's my latest training recap:

Saturday - simple circuit training workout with 1.5 mile slow jog. I like this workout because it keeps the heart rate up, burns some calories, and gets me moving.

Sunday - we desperately need rain, so I couldn't complain all that much when my long run was rained out. Thankfully, it was a cutback week for me - meaning I only needed to do 8 miles. I'm comfortable doing this on the treadmill, so that's exactly what I did.

Monday - skipped yoga for an extra hour of sleep. Hey, sometimes you just need to sleep! Did hip and lower leg strength exercises after work though.

Tuesday - The workout on my schedule was a fartlek run - 1 mi warm up, 10 x 1 min @ 7:50 pace with 1 min rest in between, 1 mi cool down. I work up to 13 mph winds & snow...not exactly prime conditions for speed work, and the winds were just supposed to get worse throughout the day. So I did this on the treadmill instead. Warm up & cool down miles at 5.5mph, with my fartlek intervals at 7.5mph/4.0mph. My treadmill is kind of wonky, so I have no clue if the paces were too fast, too slow, or right on. But I felt like I was flying at 7.5mph! Overall, I call this a success.

Wednesday - I bumped up to Christine Felstad's Yoga for Runners intermediate version. Although I was able to do all the poses, it definitely was more challenging than the beginner's version I've been doing. But I'm proud that it didn't kill me, and I definitely can tell that my fitness is improving. But my shoulders, upper back, and hamstrings were definitely unhappy with me by that evening...

Thursday - Easy 6 miles. Given my hamstring soreness from yoga, I was very thankful for an easy run. Average pace was 9:38 min/mi.

Friday - another easy run, this time only 3 miles. Slightly difficult to get out of bed after my fun evening at Flavor of the North, but I got it done. Average pace was 9:46.

Tomorrow is my first race of the year, the HOPE Springs 5k. It's local to me - like I can jog to the start line because it's only about 5 blocks from my house. It's a fun event, with tons of awards and raffle drawings. I'm really looking forward to it!

Are you racing this weekend? How's your training going?