Life Lately and St. Louis GO! Half Training Week 3 (March 9)

Hi, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! 

 

Life Lately

This past week was hopefully the last rough week of winter. We were hit with freezing rain followed by sub-zero temperatures, so the sidewalks were ice rinks for almost the whole week, which is pretty much a runner’s nightmare. Thankfully the temperatures are warming up a lot this week! If 25 felt warm to us, 50 is going to feel like summer!

Charlie celebrated the arrival of spring weather by dressing up as a unicorn. Okay, we dressed him up as a unicorn, but it’s too funny to resist. 

Life Lately March 9

We escaped again from Valpo and its mountains of snow for a weekend in St. Louis for my sister’s birthday! I forgot to take a picture, but we had an amazing cake from our favorite bakery in St. Louis (Lubeley’s) with a ton of buttercream roses. Lubeley’s has the best frosting ever, and I may have ate more than my share of those roses. 

St. Louis has so many amazing local breweries that Ryan and I spent Saturday sampling a few. We visited Urban Chestnut for lunch and a couple beers: chestnut ale and Russian imperial stout.

Life Lately March 9

 

We also had lunch at Urban Chestnut also, which was German cuisine. We shared smoked trout (omg soooo delicious!) and Bavarian weisswurst on a pretzel bun. Seriously, smoked trout on rye break with a soft-boiled egg = least likely combination but now I need to have it again soon. German food is my all-time favorite.

Life Lately March 9

We then tried 4 Hands Brewery, which had amazing beer. It was super crowded for a Saturday afternoon, and we got there just minutes before a bus full of people for a brewery tour arrived. The oatmeal stout there was incredible. 

Life Lately March 9

 For dinner, we took my sister out to Bailey’s Range. They have delicious burgers, but I could not resist the beet, butternut, arugula, and goat cheese salad. The salad was huge, as in that bowl is bigger than a mixing bowl. Just teh way I like my salads! We also shared fries with Sriracha ketchup, which you cannot pass up if you go to Bailey’s. They make everything, even their pickles and mayo, from scratch. 

Life Lately March 9

 Since Charlie is all grown up now, we graduated him from spending car rides in his carrier to getting to ride free in the car! My mom got us this Kurgo Leash and Zipline Dog Vehicle Restraint for Christmas and it worked so well for Charlie! Our sweet puppy loved being able to stretch out and sleep for the trip. 

Life Lately March 9

 

St. Louis Go! Half Marathon Training Week 3

Almost all of this week’s miles were logged on the treadmill, thanks to the freezing rain and bitterly cold temperatures. Thankfully it seems like the last week of that! Despite so much treadmill running, training this week felt great and was genuinely enjoyable.

I also seriously was kicking myself this week when I realized a pair of trail running shoes would have made a world of difference in my winter running. Since we get patches of ice and snow, YakTraks aren’t always the best choice, because half the run could be on pavement and half on ice. Trail running shoes can transition no problem between the two! At least I know now for next year.  

 Monday: 8 miles on the treadmill, average pace 8:03/mile, 0.5-1.5% incline. After a 2 mile warm-up, I did 4 1-mile repeats at the equivalent of my 10-K pace (7:15/mile) with a 3 minute recovery jog between each, followed by 1 mile cool-down. Afterwards, I did some leg, glute, and core focused strength training. 

Tuesday: 7 miles easy on the treadmill, 8:57/mile pace, 0.5-2% incline, and 10 minutes of Pilates.

Wednesday: 9 miles on the treadmill, average pace 7:51/mile, 1-2% incline, with 6 miles at goal half marathon pace (7:35/mile), followed by some core work with planks, bridges, and reverse Russian twists. 

Thursday: 4 miles easy on the treadmill, 9:13/mile pace, 0.5% incline, and 25 minutes of Pilates.

Friday: 12.5 miles on the treadmill, average pace 8:36/mile, 0-6% incline. Since I was stuck on the treadmill for my long run (-8 degree wind chill is just too cold for me), I decided to mimic the hills on the race course. Since my treadmill doesn’t have a downhill incline, I just did 0% for the large portions of downhill. I also used the treadmill to help me practice negative splits, which I really want to learn to do for long runs and races.

Saturday: 1.5 super hilly miles with Ryan in St. Louis. 

42 miles for the week with 4 strength/core workouts!

I also tried Gu Salted Caramel this week on my long run. I don’t know if I can go back to my Hammer gels now.

Life Lately March 9

Goals for This Week

1. To do my tempo workout and long run outside! It’s been way too long since I’ve run these outside, and warmer temperatures mean no ice. 

2. More Pilates! Pilates builds a stronger core while also giving a great yoga-esque stretch. 

3. Lots of fruits and vegetables, especially after a weekend of cake, donuts, and beer. 

 

Questions of the Day:

How was your training this week? What was your best run?
What’s your favorite craft beer? 

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8 Responses

  1. Sounds like a great training week and a fun weekend! You are so right that 25 degrees has felt warm lately. Yesterday it got to 48 here and I felt like I didn’t need a jacket! Enjoy your outdoor runs this week:)

    1. Thank you! 48 sounds glorious, hopefully your weather keeps warming up from there! I hope you’re able to get outside for some running or at least some walking and fresh air! 🙂

  2. I love the doggy car tether–I should get one for my pup! She thinks she is supposed to sit on my lap while I’m driving. Fail.

    Yes to better weather for all of us! It is about time. Enjoy your outdoor run time!

    1. Charlie tries to ride in the lap of whoever is driving also, and the tether worked so great for him because he could move…but just not around the front seat! I don’t know if we’ll ever travel without it now, I totally recommend it for your pup!
      Enjoy your outdoor run time as well! Yay for spring!

  3. I (gasp) wasn’t training this week!!! But you my friend, killed it. Way to rock it out!
    I love craft beer. We should meet up some time and go to a brewery! OMG we are going to have so much fun at Ragnar!

    1. You needed to rest after doing so amazing at Phoenix! We should meet up sometime to go to a brewery, there are so many good ones in Chicago! I’m soooo excited for Ragnar!!!

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