Grandma’s Marathon week!! It was quite the stressful week with trying to get stuff for Peru in order, working, and doing some other project things, not to mention mentally and physically preparing for (and running!) the marathon, but I survived it all just fine. The above picture was taken during the Friday night’s 5K. I’ll recap the marathon weekend in full later this week, but below is my general weekly recap.

FOOD:

No major highlights here this week apart from pizza at the pizza farm (see below!). Breakfast was fruit, oats, and yogurt, lunch was grilled chicken, steak, and veggie kabobs, and dinner was a mash up of whatever was in my fridge. There were also lots of snacks in between, like these almond butter cannellini blondies.

FITNESS:

A fairly easy week leading up to Saturday, but a couple of light speed workouts thrown in to keep the legs loose!

• Monday: Easy run. A morning run with Monica! Total = 7.0 miles; 9:35 min/mile pace.
• Tuesday: Yasso 800’s. I did a 1.5 miles warm up + 4x 800 m @ 8:00 min/mile pace + 1.5 cool down. Total = 5.0 miles; 8:40 min/mile pace.
• Wednesday: Easy run. Just did an easy 3-miler. Total = 3 miles; 9:04 min/mile pace.
• Thursday: Strides. An easy 4-mile run with 4x 30-second strides thrown in. Total = 4.0 miles; 9:10 min/mile pace.
• Friday: Rested my legs for the marathon!
• Saturday: The moment I’ve been waiting for… Grandma’s Marathon! Total = 26.2 miles; 9:39 min/mile pace.
• Sunday: Much deserved rest day!

FUN:

• My friends, Katie and Justine, and I went to the Red Barn in Northfield on Wednesday for their pizza night. This is something that I have wanted to do over the last couple of summers, but never made it. I’m glad it finally happened, because it was so much fun. We ordered a big pizza, brought along some wine and a cucumber-watermelon salad, and enjoyed the evening. People were sitting outside having picnics and inside the barn listening to the live band (which was fantastic). Getting to Northfield on a Wednesday evening in traffic is a bit of a commitment, but it was totally worth it! Definitely recommend!
• On Thursday the entire Logistics team at General Mills had an end of the year BBQ (our fiscal year ended May 31). We left the office at 11:00 and went to a nearby park. We had a BBQ, played volleyball and lawn bowling, and just hung out. It was perfect weather and a great afternoon. It’s nice to spend time with co-workers outside of the office. I think it’s great when they host events like this.
• I spent the weekend in Duluth and had such a great time! I’ll write a larger recap later this week.

This will probably be my last “weekly recap” post in quite some time. Mainly because I’ll be taking some time off of running and because I’ll be in Peru for (a much needed) vacation. Maybe these will come back in a similar capacity, but we shall see.

Happy first day of summer!

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

5.25.15 Weekly Recap: Food + Fitness + Fun 

The last week of May! EEKS. Here’s what all went down…

FOOD:

My Tuesday-Friday routine meals:

• Breakfasts: Baked sweet potato topped with ½ cup full fat plain Greek yogurt, cinnamon, a drizzle of maple syrup, a tablespoon of chopped walnuts, and some fresh berries.
• Lunches: A chopped salad with red cabbage, kale, radishes, beets, parsley, and chickpeas tossed with a lemon red wine vinaigrette and topped with some salty sunflower seeds. There were also some chopped up anchovies in the mix for bonus omega-3s.
• Snacks: An apple in the morning and some cucumbers with hummus in the afternoons.
• Dinners: Sautéed vegetables (kale, cabbage, carrots, onion, peppers, mushrooms) and a soft-boiled egg.

Some other fun meals:

• Dinner with some college girlfriends at Kafe 421 (more below). I had the cobb salad with grilled chicken and no cheese. We also split a bottle (or two) of Malbec – gotta love half-priced bottles of wine night!
• I also snacked on these triple berry almond oat bars all week. They are vegan and easy to make and so very delicious!
• My post 22-mile recovery meal: toast and an omelet with some chia seed jam, peaches, and blueberries. Does anyone else like fruity omelets?
• My friends and I grilled before the Twin’s game today! It was the first time grilling at my place this year. I need to do it more often. We had chicken and veggie kabobs, lentil salad, fresh fruit, and some Indeed shenanigans. So delicious!

FITNESS:

• Monday: Easy run. 6 miles in the rain in northern Minnesota. I think my shoes were wet for about 3 days, but there is something so soothing about running in the misty rain. Total = 6 miles; 9:10 min/mile pace.
• Tuesday: Cross-training. I was planning on going to run club, but the universe seemed to be against it for a variety of reasons, so I did some cross-training instead: 45 minutes on the elliptical followed by 1 round of this full body dumbbell workout.
• Wednesday: Easy run + strength training. I started the day with a gorgeous morning run with my friend Lindsey. Total = 7 miles; 9:31 min/mile. Over my lunch break I did some strength training: 3 rounds of the following 2 circuits: 1^st – sumo squat with shoulder press, standing triceps extensions, biceps curls; 2^nd – cable adductors, cable abductors, cable rows; followed by ab work and stretching.
• Thursday: Track workout. I made up the track workout that I was supposed to do on Tuesday. It was a hot evening, but went ok overall. I did a 1.7 mile warm up + 4x 1-mile repeats (8:00-8:30 min/mile) + 1.7 mile easy cool down. Total = 7.5 miles; 9:10 min/mile.
• Friday: Rest day.
• Saturday: Long run. For the last long run before the taper begins for every training season my run club (Calhoun Beach Run Club) does a “capitol run” which is the last 22 miles of the Twin Cities Marathon route: from the Calhoun Beach Club to the Minnesota Capitol Building. We always treat this run as a practice for the marathon. I always get really excited and nervous about it. The first 10ish miles went great, but then mile 12-14 I started having a weird heartbeat again like I did during the Fargo Half Marathon, so I slowed down. One of the girls slowed down and ran with me (THANK YOU AGAIN KRISTEN!!!!!), which pretty much saved me for the next 8 miles. I made it the full 22 miles because of all the support from the CBRC. Despite my body feeling ok, I’m still nervous about this marathon. But I’m going to try to go to the doctor this week, so that’ll help! Total = 22 miles; 9:25 min/mile.
• Sunday: Recovery miles. I met up with my friends Lindsey and Christie from run club to do some recovery miles. The Minneapolis Marathon was going on, so we planned our route along the course to cheer on the runners. It was a great morning for a run. Congrats to all the Minneapolis Marathon finishers! Total = 5 miles; 9:35 min/mile.
• Total: 1 cross training session. 1 strength training session. 1 rest day. 5 runs (47.5 miles).

OTHER FUN THINGS:

• Memorial Day was unfortunately pretty dreary. My family and I had one last breakfast together at the cabin before everyone packed up and headed home. The traffic. OMG, the traffic! It was so backed up, but my brother and I made it back to Minneapolis (with bright blue skies and 70 degrees – wtf?!) in one sane piece. It was such a fun weekend.
• I met up with some girlfriends from college on Wednesday night at Kafe 421. One of the girls was visiting from California and another just moved back from Switzerland – a great reason to get everyone together! Kafe 421 was one of our favorites spots in college, because of the half-priced bottles of wine on Mondays and Wednesdays and it’s right in the heart of Dinkytown (which has changed completely, FYI). It’s always great to catch up with the girls!
• On Friday afternoon I met up with my friend Natalie to work on some of our Peru planning. We go on an international trip every year – this is our 6^th! We leave for Peru in a couple of weeks (with two other girls) and still need to do some logistics planning. It was nice to catch up and get some things sorted out. I need to make a trip to REI. Also, if anyone has and Peru/Inca Trail tips, please send them my way!
• My friends and I went to the Twin’s game today – the first thing I get to check off the bucket list! Plus, we grilled (check again!) and had a delicious meal outside. It was a great afternoon loaded with silly conversations and my favorite people. <3

Hope you had a great week! xoxjd

FOOD:

• Usually my breakfasts are consistent day-to-day throughout the week, but I think I had something different everyday: muesli, fruit & yogurt, chocolate chip raspberry banana bread (<- highly recommend you make), smoothies. All good ways to start the day!
• I made some pork stir fry with onion, broccoli, red peppers, and sugar snap peas for dinner on Monday and then ate leftovers for lunch the rest of the week. I also made stir fry for my other dinners, but used onion, broccoli, carrots, kale, ginger, and a soft boiled egg. It’s such a simple, delicious, healthy, quick meal!! I can’t get enough.
• On Wednesday I took my younger brother out for a birthday dinner at Tiny Diner. I got the Pueblo Bowl, he got the Masa Gnocchi, and his boyfriend got the burger. Everything was so delicious!! I would love to go back there and sit on the patio.
• Friday evening was beautiful, so I met up with some friends to eat on the patio at Aster Café. This place is one of my favorites and also is conveniently located within walking distance from me. We had some appetizers (fresh vegetable crudite & Irish Dubliner cheese)) and I had the pear prosciutto pizza. A bottle of Malbec was involved as well. Obviously.
• My family celebrated my little brother’s birthday up at our cabin (AKA The Jabin) on Saturday night. My mom made new potatoes, a fruit and nut salad, baguette bread, and grilled ribs. Oh my goodness, those ribs! So good. Then she pulled out a lemon-blueberry birthday cake, which was equally amazing.

FITNESS:

• Monday: Easy run + strength training. For the run I did 7.3 miles at 8:56 min/mile pace. For the strength training I did 3 sets each of the following circuits: 1^st – chest press machine, lat pulldowns, triceps bench dips, squats, 2-minute plank hold; 2^nd – bicep curls, front and lateral shoulder raises; 3^rd – lying adductor raises, abductor raises, side plank hip dips, plank twists.
• Tuesday: Tempo workout. I did a 3-mile warm up + 25 minutes tempo + 2.5-mile cool down. I really wasn’t feeling this workout when I started, but I happened to run into my friend Lindsey (and her adorable new puppy!!!) who gave me some words of encouragement. It helped me power through. Tempo workouts are my least favorite – it’s a mental thing. Total = 8 miles; 8:59 min/mile pace.
• Wednesday: Easy run + treadmill intervals. I met up with my friend Monica in the morning for a nice run then later did some interval work on the treadmill. I really struggled with the intervals, because my legs felt heavy from Tuesday’s tempo run. I should have planned my week better and did the tempo run on Monday so that I could have more recovery in between. Next time. Total = 4.5 miles; 9:20 min/mile pace + 3.5 miles; varying pace.
• Thursday: Yoga. I took the DharmaCycle Yoga 2 class in the morning. It was my last day of my intro month pass, which is a bummer. I do really like the studio and am thinking about buying more classes.
• Friday: Long run. I had to fit in my long run before my friend Sarah got into town on Friday evening. Luckily, we just started our half-day Fridays at work (best thing ever) so I went out on my long run after I wrapped things up around noon. It was hot. I got sunburn on my shoulders and I did not bring my water bottle. Clearly not at all prepared for the heat. Lesson learned: wear sunscreen and bring water always. Also doing long runs by myself makes them significantly more difficult than doing them with other people. I did come across a random stranger on a bike who chatted and rode along side of me from miles 14 to 16. I welcomed the distraction. Total = 17 miles; 9:55 min/mile pace.
• Saturday: Walk. My friend Sarah and I went for a morning power walk (about 3/3.5 miles). We ended our walk at Whole Foods, grabbed some coffee, yogurt, blueberries, and WholeMe clusters and enjoyed a little breakfast outside. I love mornings like this!
• Sunday: Easy run. A nice morning run up north. Total = 7 miles; 9:30 min/mile pace.
• Totals: 1 strength training session, 1 yoga class, 1 walk, 5 runs (47.3 miles).

OTHER FUN THINGS:

• I already mentioned my little brother’s birthday dinner a few times, but it definitely was a fun part of the week. I think it’s the “year of Jordan”, so I’m excited to see everything that he is going to accomplish while he’s 22!
• My friend Sarah came to visit Minneapolis and stayed with me on Friday night before going to a bachelorette party the rest of the weekend. I met Sarah while we were both working in Tennessee and we instantly became good friends after bonding over Dumb & Dumber quotes. We’ve remained close over the years even though she lives in Phoenix and we only see each other a few times a year. She’s the one that inspired me to get into fitness and lead a healthier lifestyle. Basically, my life completely change because of her. She one of the funnest girls in the world, so it’s awesome whenever I get to hang out with her!
• Saturday I was up at The Jabin with the whole family. We pontooned all afternoon, visited Jack Pine brewery, ate an amazing meal, fished off the dock, had a bonfire, and watched a movie. Days like this are perfect. I love spending quality time with the fam.

The Jabin festivities with continue throughout the remainder of Memorial Day Weekend! The weather is so-so, but we’ll still have fun grilling, fishing, watching movies, reading, relaxing, hanging out, etc, etc. I hope your weekend is as awesome as mine has been so far. Be safe, have fun, and don’t forget to be grateful for everyone who served and lost their lives in the armed forces!

xxjenna

I was all over the place last week: Sunday = Brainerd, Monday = Minneapolis, Tuesday = Winnipeg, Wednesday = Calgary, Thursday = Minneapolis, Friday-Sunday = Denver. It was crazy, busy, but it was a great week overall. Here’s the recap:

FOOD:

Clearly since I was barely home, a majority of my meals were eaten out this week. A lot of them were in the airport. And since I was only home for a few days I didn’t go to the grocery store to restock my refrigerator. No joke, it’s just eggs and condiments in there. I had a lot of almond butter fried egg sandwiches. Therefore, I’ll just call out the things worth calling out.

• Mother’s Day Brunch. My mom and I made brunch together at the cabin. We put together a delicious mushroom, spinach, asparagus quiche, thick cut bacon, crusty bread, fresh berries, and hot coffee. It was delicious and bright and fun (proof). My parents and I devoured it.
• Brunch at Linger. This place was so fun. There was a litebrite-esue bartop, unlimited mimosas, and an interesting bathroom. I ate an amazing chile relleno. After brunch my friend (Katie) and I headed up to the rooftop for a little bit where there was a nice view of LoHi and downtown Denver, but then it started to rain so we moved along.
• Dinner at Root Down. Ohemgeeee, this dinner was amazing. Katie and I split the kale and pea salad, seared Columbian arepas, the Roman gnocchi, and a bottle of Syrah. Everything was delicious. We sat there for a longggg time eating and chatting and working through our bottle of wine.
• Dinner at Kaos Pizzeria. First of all, this place had an awesome happy hour – $2 beers! Second, there pizza is delicious. We had the margarita and the prosciutto.
• While in Denver we also had a quick late-night dinner at Mead St. Station, coffee at The Laughing Latte, happy hour at Machete, a glass of wine at Old Major, lunch at Vine Street Pub, and beers at Tavern.

FITNESS:

• Sunday: Easy run. A nice 4-mile run up north by the cabin. Total = 4.0 miles; 8:58 min/mile.
• Monday: Cycle class + hill workout. I started my Monday with a DharmaCycle cycle class. I planned to do a prime yoga class, but a mix up at the studio led me to cycle, which was fine. Then later after work I did a hill workout. Actually, I’m not sure I would go as far to call this a “workout”. I basically just ran jogged up and down a large hill 8 times with some flat miles before and afterwards. Total = 10.6 miles; 9:20 min/mile.
• Tuesday: Strength training. I was planning on going for a run, but decided that strength training would be a better option for my body. I started out with a 10 minute warm up on the elliptical, then did 2 rounds of each of the following circuits – 1^st: Romanian deadlifts, stranding triceps extensions, biceps curls; 2^nd: dumbbell chest press, bent over rows, plank knee-to-elbow; 3^rd: lunges, shoulder scaption, plank with hip dips; 4^th: side leg lifts, hamstring curls, side plank hip dips, pushups.
• Wednesday: Short speed workout. I happened to be in Calgary when Running Room was having one of their group runs, so I went to check it out! They had a bunch of different training groups doing different workouts. I joined up with the Half Marathon group that was doing a speed workout. We warmed up by playing freeze tag. Freeze tag! How fun is that?! I think I was 12 the last time I played freeze tag. Then we did 3x 200 meter sprints followed by 4x 50m sprints in a relay format, then a little cool down. It was a lot of fun and everyone was super nice and welcoming. Plus, we met at the store right down town and ran through a beautiful park by the river. I’m glad I joined up with them rather than doing a run on my own. Afterwards I just did a little 4 mile run on my own. I ran along the river and it kind of felt like I was in Minneapolis. Calgary is a very pretty city! Total = ~5.5 miles.
• Thursday: Rest day.
• Friday: Long run. I took a half-day vacation so that I could fit in my 20-miler before flying out to Denver. Such a fun vacation, right?! Thankfully my friend Monica was willing to run the first 9 miles with me; otherwise I really don’t think I would have made the whole 20 on my own. I mean, I guess I probably would have, but it wouldn’t have been pretty. The last 11 were tough, but I had Comedy Bang Bang (episode #349) to entertain me. Total = 20 miles; 10:00 min/mile.
• Saturday: Yoga Flow. My friend and I checked out The Freya Project yoga studio in the Highland Denver neighborhood. The studio was super cute and the class was great. We went through a ton of hip opening and IT band stretches. It was like the instructor knew exactly what I needed.
• Sunday: Rest day.
• Totals: 1 strength training session, 1 cycle class, 1 yoga class, 4 runs (40.1 miles).

OTHER FUN THINGS:

• I was in Canada on Tuesday and Wednesday visiting my Winnipeg and Calgary warehouse sites. I have been working with these sites since February, so it was great to finally meet everyone in person and see the warehouses with my own eyes.
• The TC 1-Mile was Thursday night! I volunteer with the Marketing Committee for Twin Cities in Motion and my role was to put together the Cheer Zones along the course. We had one at Eli’s, Rock Bottom Brewery, and Maruso. I led up the one at Maruso, handed out Thunderstix and cowbells to the spectators, and cheered on all the runners. It was a chilly, rainy night on a new course (it used to be on Nicollet), but it was still super fun.
• My friend Katie and I spent the weekend in Denver. We just wanted to get away from Minneapolis for a little bit and explore the city even though we were just there in October. We spent the weekend eating and drinking at a lot of good restaurants (see above) and walking around different areas (like Cheeseman Park). Unfortunately the weather wasn’t super awesome (quite a few rain showers), but we made the most of it and will definitely be going back for another visit!

Hope you had a great week!