Friday Thrive
Each week’s Friday Thrive rounds up 5 things from the week worth sharing. And let me just tell you, I am so glad that it’s finally Friday! Or maybe I’m just ecstatic because we finally saw some blue skies and sunshine for the first time in days. Either way, Happy Friday!
Read
“5 Things Most Marathoners Shouldn’t Worry About” from Outside. This article sums up my approach to marathon training so much, which honestly makes me feel better about my adaptive approach to that beast of a race. I don’t like to make the marathon overly complicated because the distance is already challenging enough as it is.
My favorite quote in the article was from Mario Fraioli: “You don’t want to chase [mileage] numbers for numbers’ sake. You want to prioritize the training elements that will yield the biggest returns for you, based on how much time you have available.”
There is so much wisdom in those two sentences. Social media presents an image of marathon training as miles, miles, and more miles. Endurance is essential, but so are rest, recovery, tempo runs, and not devoting every waking second to running. I averaged 45-50 miles per week in marathon training for CIM; if I had succumbed to the pressure of social media, I might have been tempted to aim for 60-70, but balancing the priorities paid off with a BQ and a strong, enjoyable race.
Eat
Back in February, we had some delicious tacos at Deschutes Public House in Bend that featured pickled onions. I had been wanting to try pickling at some point, but those tacos inspired me to start now.
This week I made pickled red onions using this recipe for quick pickled veggies from Cookie and Kate. I’ve been putting them on salads and sandwiches all week because they are mouth-wateringly delicious. And, despite what I originally thought, pickled onions were quick and easy to make.
Run
I’ve spent the past couple months working on an exciting project with Runkeeper: weekly workouts! Each week, you can find a new workout on Runkeeper’s blog.
The first weekly workouts is a personal favorite of mine: a progression run. The out-and-back progression run is a simple yet effective workout. This run teaches you how to pace yourself and run fast when tired – and those two skills are immensely valuable for improving as a runner, no matter what level you are at. You can run it based on time or distance.
Drink
Guinness, of course! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
This Guinness is from the Guinness Storehouse Gravity Bar in Dublin (from my trip there in 2010, hence the old camera phone quality!). I adore that shamrock they did on the head when serving the beer! From seven stories high, can see a 360-degree panoramic view of the beautiful city while sipping on a pint. Hint, hint, Ryan (because I know you’re reading): we need to go to Dublin some day. Soon.
Rest
We all know how important sleep is for recovery, and Ollie is already taking that advice to heart. Now that Ollie is more trained and adapted to running twice per week, I decided to take him running with me this week. We ran 6 miles in the rain together on Wednesday and afterward Ollie napped for three hours straight. This dog never naps unless he’s gone for a run. Not only was his napping ridiculously cute and a welcome respite from his standard hyperactivity, it served as a reminder to take some time to rest and recover after a hard effort.
[Tweet “Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Read, eat, run, drink, and rest with @thisrunrecipes #FridayThrive”]
What are your plans this weekend?
What are you reading, eating, or drinking this week?
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17 Responses
I absolutely love that quote from the Outside article on marathon training! Sometimes I think if I ever attempted a marathon again I would have to stop all social media!! LOL!! It can be inspiring but it can also question everything.
I’m taking rest very seriously and have been recovering nicely from Cuba…although my puppy is trying to test me, it’s so great having the distraction. Cannot wait until we can take her outside and have some fun for more then 10 minutes b/c she’s shivering in this ridiculous weather!
Happy St. Paddy’s Day! Drink for me 🙂
I hope the new puppy is doing well! Winter is SO hard with puppies, but then once they can play outside in spring they love the outdoors! I can’t wait for you to be able to run with her – I know it will be a few months, but running with a dog is so much fun. Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
When it comes to marathon training I definitely think its more important to prioritize high quality workouts, recovery, and injury prevention over miles. It sounds like you really found a good balance of it all for you that paid off with a great race.
Thank you! We see so many people talk about miles, miles, miles that it’s refreshing to read articles by top coaches like Fraioli that state otherwise.
We can learn so much from our dogs, huh? Although I can’t say I’d pick up on some of their habits. Eating random things found outside, sniffing butts…no thanks! 😉
I’m drinking beer and eating cake today. It’s my birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Enjoy that cake and beer 🙂 Yeah, definitely not all of the habits of dogs…I can’t say that eating random leaves and stuff from outside is ever good!
This weekend… I’m going to be trying not to have my hair on fire. I’m going to a brunch tomorrow, so we shall see what happens there. AKA gimme all the food.
I perfect Guinness pour is just sexy. HAVE FUN TODAY!
Knowing me, I will probably still be asleep by 8 pm. We’re going out early even. Good luck this weekend!
Running is a great way to tire the pups out! You have inspired me to go pickle some vegetables! Happy St Patricks Day!
I love how tired pups are after a run! It certainly makes my day more peaceful since I work from home. And yes, you must try pickling! Once they’re in season more, I want to try pickled radishes also.
that’s really exciting about runkeeper! I will have to check it out!
Yes! I am super excited about it. You would like the workouts I’ve done for them so far!
I love your list! I’ve been eating (twice this week) salad rolls with avocado, cilantro and bean sprouts. I dip them in peanut sauce and it is EVERYTHING. I could eat them all day long. I want one right now. I miss Guinness! I may just have to steal a sip from Andrew’s later on today!
Yummmmm those do sound good! Enjoy your weekend – and maybe that sip of Guinness 🙂
I checked out a stack of books from the library to read over spring break and I’ve made it through….one. I think I’ll be reading a lot this weekend!
I love your list. Looks like the pup got one awesome week of exercise. And as a fan of veggie-pickle I’m totally adding red onion to my list. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you!