Oh man, it was quite the week of things! I hung out a lot outdoors, crossed a few things off of my Summer Bucket List, spent a day in the doctor’s office (nothing serious!), and had my 2nd week of taper before Grandma’s Marathon! Read all about it below.

FOOD:

• Last Saturday I made a batch of healthy waffles (oat flour, protein powder, flax meal, banana, almond milk, cinnamon, etc) and then froze the leftovers. For breakfast this week I’ve been popping them in the toaster and topping them with fresh fruit and a little bit of Greek yogurt. It makes me really happy.
• Lunch has consisted of big quinoa salads with spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and artichokes with a simple olive oil/lemon juice dressing. So good!
• I had an abundance of vegetables in my fridge this week. All the fresh spring/summer produce always looks too good to pass up at the grocery store and I end up with probably too much for a single person. Somehow I manage to eat through it before it goes bad. I love my vegetables! Dinners this week (when I was actually home for dinner) have been huge salads full of fresh veggies (radishes, asparagus, summer squash, cucumber, tomatoes, etc).

There was also been a lot of fun meals with friends. More below!

FITNESS:

• Monday: Strength training + easy run. I fit in some strength training over lunch and did 3 rounds each of the following circuits: 1^st – biceps curls, hammer curls, rotator cuff, squat, bent-over rows, side dips; 2^nd – abductor, adductor, leg lifts; 3^rd – chest press, front and lateral shoulder raises, bench dips. Then later that evening I met Cara, one of my CRT guides, for a run in St. Paul. We tested a potential new City Running Tour route – get excited!. Total = 5.5 miles; untimed.
• Tuesday: Easy run. A nice morning run with Monica before it got way too hot outside. After work I went on a little bike ride. Total = 5.0 miles; 9:17 min/mile pace + ~11 mile bike ride.
• Wednesday: Yoga. I finally went to Meggan’s yoga class at Lake of the Isles (The Yoga Garage). It was a great class and the most perfect weather for yoga outside. I’m excited to go again! It will be every Wednesday at 7:00 by Lake of the Isles if you ever want to go check it out.
• Thursday: Easy run + intervals. I did a run in the morning with Monica and some quick treadmill intervals after work. Total = 5.5 miles; 9:35 min/mile + 8 x 1-minute intervals.
• Friday: Yoga sculpt at Yoga Sol with my friend Jorden. I need to add more of this into my weekly routine. It’s such a great way to kick off a Friday!
• Saturday: Long run. My last long run before Grandma’s Marathon! I can’t believe it’s next week already! I’m slightly freaking out. Total = 10 miles; 9:25 min/mile pace.
• Sunday: An nice, easy run without my Garmin. Total = ~4 miles; untimed.

In a few of my previous post (like here and here) I mentioned some issues with a weird heartbeat while running. I finally went to the doctor last week to get it checked out and had some abnormal EKG results. Umm… scary. On Tuesday I went to get an echocardiogram and see a Cardiologist. Fortunately, the appointment went as well as I could have hoped – no major issues! *happy dance* I just get a premature heartbeat (arrthymia) every so often, which is probably exercise induced. The Cardiologist explained why I had abnormal EKG results and set me up with a patch to monitor my heart over the next two weeks to make sure everything looks ok while I exercise. It’s a little bit obnoxious and only a little bit obvious. I’m hoping it stays on through the marathon! Then I’ll send it off to the lab and the Cardiologist will let me know my results.

OTHER FUN THINGS:

There were too many fun things going on this week!

• I tested a potential new City Running Tour route in St. Paul with one of my new guides. We went from the Running Room on Grand Avenue to the Capitol and back. The new route will be launched soon! Feel free to sign up.
• On Tuesday it was my friend Sigrid’s birthday and she had a little gathering over at Sea Salt to celebrate. I biked over there with my friend Natalie. It was a fantastic, super hot, summer evening with lots of friends.
• General Mills had a big company meeting at the Minneapolis Event Center on Wednesday. Everyone wore branded shirts, so if you saw lots of Green Giants, Pillsbury Doughboys, and Buzz Bees running around downtown Minneapolis, that is why.
• On Wednesday evening I biked over to Lake of the Isles for my friend Meggan’s Yoga Garage yoga class with Natalie and Senthil (see how awesome that Zio patch looks?!). It was the most perfect evening for yoga! Afterwards we biked over to Tin Fish for some fish tacos and good times. It was my first time doing yoga at Isles and my first time going to Tin Fish!
• My friends Kenny and Megan had Natalie and I over for dinner on Thursday night. We had breakfast for dinner (BFD = the best), these bacon nut bourbon brownies, and a lot of silly conversations.
• Monica, Natalie, and I did a little day trip to Stillwater on Saturday, AKA Tour de Stilly. We walked around downtown, had lunch at Lolo, beer at Maple Island Brewing, saw the lift bridge, and finished the afternoon off with wine and snacks at Northern Vineyards Winery. It was cloudy and a little bit rainy, but we made our own sunshine until the real sun decided to show up later in the afternoon.

FOOD:

• I’ve been on yogurt kick lately, so breakfast this week has been a banana, fresh berries, chia seeds, walnuts, and full fat plain Greek yogurt. This combo never disappoints.
• When my friends and I grilled last Sunday I made a ton of extra kabobs, so I’ve been eating the leftovers with some greens for lunch all week. I could eat this everyday forever and ever.
• My snacks this week were super typical – an apple in the morning and some broccoli in the afternoon.
• Dinners have been all over the place because of various things going on. Check out in the other fun things section!

FITNESS:

• Monday: Easy run. My friend Monica and I had a nice morning run downtown. Total = 7.5 miles; 9:35 min/mile pace.
• Tuesday: Strength training + track workout. I squeezed in some strength training circuits over lunch. I did 3 sets of the following: 1^st – single-leg shoulder scaption, Romanian deadlifts, standing triceps extensions; 2^nd – lateral band walks, cable adductors, biceps and hammer curls; 3^rd – chest press, lat pulldowns, leg lifts. Then I finished off with some more ab work and stretching. Later that evening I met up with the CBRC for a track workout at “the bridges” (which is not a track, but a flat stretch on the Cedar Lake Trail that has three bridges spaced about ½-mile apart). The workout: 1 mile – 3 min rest – ½ mile – 30 sec rest – ½ mile – 3 min rest. I repeated that once more and also had a warm up and cool down. Total = 7.35 miles; 8:56 min/mile pace.
• Wednesday: National Running Day run! I met up with a group of girls from the CBRC for a bright and early run to celebrate National Running Day! Most of us did a track workout the night before, so we kept it pretty easy, which was quite fun. It’s moments like that that make me love running so much. Total = 5.0 miles; 9:25 min/mile pace.
• Thursday: Yoga. I went to “yoga at the winery” with my mom. It was a very beginner class and my brain was very distracted, but it was still a nice time.
• Friday: Easy run. I was at home in Hutchinson and took it super slow on some gravel roads. I even saw a horse on the loose! Total = 4.0 miles; 10:00 min/mile pace
• Saturday: Easy run. I cut down my long run this week. Total = 9.0 miles; 9:25 min/mile pace.
• Sunday: Easy run. This was a hot, hot run, but it was such a gorgeous morning! Luckily, there was at least one water fountain on in the city. Total = 6.0 miles; 9:15 min/mile pace.

As you can see there were a lot of easy runs towards the end of this week. I finally went to see a doctor about those weird heart things I’ve been feeling on some of my long runs. He advised me not to run. I clearly didn’t listen, but I did cut down on my miles, didn’t do a workout, and took it really easy. I have another appointment this week, so more to come on that!

OTHER FUN THINGS:

• Some of my co-workers from Canada were visiting this week, so the team planned a couple of fun outings for them so they weren’t stuck in their hotel rooms. On Monday we went to Lake Harriet (pictured above) for a picnic and some live music. So fun! I don’t know why I haven’t done this in Minneapolis before. Someone picked up food from the Broder’s Deli (I had the Emilia Salad – so tasty). We spent the evening sitting on blankets, chatting, and listening to some live big band music. The weather was a tad on the chilly side, but still a great night overall. On Wednesday night we went to Pizzeria Lola for dinner. This place has been on my “must eat at” list since I moved to Minneapolis almost 4 years ago! Ridiculous. This place was amazing. We got a bunch of different pizzas, so I was able to try the Korean BBQ (OMG, the best), Hawaii Pie-O, The Forager, and Beautiful Evening (the special). It was amazing. I am so sad that it took me so long to try it out. I could have been enjoying this pizza for years. If you live in the Minneapolis area, please go now.
• My friend Ellie and her husband Oliver were in town from California. I rarely ever get to see them, so I drove home to Hutchinson on Thursday after work. First I met my mom and her friend (Hi Lynn!) at Crow River Winery for “yoga at the winery”. They do an outdoor yoga class every Thursday night and then you go inside and have a glass of wine – how great is that?! Plus, it’s only $10. We also ordered a red pepper asparagus pizza to enjoy with our wine. It was very delicious! Afterwards I met up Ellie, Oliver, and Johanna at Zella’s for half-priced bottles of wine and a lot of catching up. It’s always good to see close friends <3
• On Friday afternoon I took my mom out for lunch at Zella’s to celebrate her last day of another school year (and an early birthday). Then we did a little shopping and grabbed coffee and dessert before I had to head back to Minneapolis. It was a fun afternoon with my mom. I hope to have a few more of those this summer!
• My friend Megan and her boyfriend Justin were in town from Boston on Friday night, so a big group of us went out to LynLake Brewery to see them and drink beer and hang out on the rooftop – such a great night with too many awesome people.
• A couple of friends got together for Sunday brunch to check out the drag brunch at Mattie’s on Main. It was quite silly and the food was really tasty.

Oh man, apparently there were lots of fun things this week! I liked it. Oh summer <3