Life Lately and Weekly Workouts (February 23)

Hi, everyone! How was your weekend?

This weekend Ryan and I got away from the awful Midwest winter and spent the weekend in Seattle! We were fortunate to have absolutely beautiful, warm, and sunny weather this weekend, which was such a refresher. Even if we don’t end up moving there this year, once we’re established and working independently, we want to move out there. It’s like perpetual autumn out there, and the ocean air is just amazing. 

This week was bitterly, bitterly cold in Valparaiso. When we left Ash Wednesday mass, the wind chill was around -30 degrees Fahrenheit! Thankfully we don’t have as much snow as they do out in Massachusetts, but I think everyone in the East and Midwest can agree that this winter has overstayed its welcome. 

Instead of flying out of Chicago (which is always a nightmare), we took some extra vacation and drove down to Saint Louis. Charlie stayed in St. Louis and got to play with his puppy uncles all weekend, which he always loves!

We landed in Seattle late on Friday night and pretty much crashed when we got to our hotel. Saturday we were up bright and early to explore Seattle! Our hotel was right downtown near the waterfront, so we were able to walk most places. The view from our hotel was gorgeous. 

We started off our morning with some coffee. The coffee is Seattle is just amazing! Everywhere we tried had such great coffee. Our first stop was Caffe Ladro. 

We spent the morning exploring the Public Market and sightseeing on the Puget Sound. 

We also drove around Bellevue and Sammamish. I would love to live in Sammamish someday! The lake was just so beautiful. We made a stop for lunch and some great beer at Bellevue Brewing Company.

We could not go to Seattle without eating some seafood, so we ate dinner at Lowell’s Restaurant at the Public Market. I had a salmon sandwich and Ryan had fish and chips. Both were so fresh-tasting! If you’re looking for great seafood in Seattle, Lowell’s is a great place to try. We had a view of the water during our dinner!

 Sunday morning we grabbed breakfast at The Lucky Diner, which a reader recommended to me. It was so good and had some of the best bacon I’ve ever tried. Thanks for the recommendation, Jess!

Hands down the best food we tried in Seattle was Top Pot Donuts. We got donuts and coffee there both on Saturday and Sunday. Seriously, these were the best donuts! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen all the donut photos I posted! 

 Even with all the bitter winter weather and traveling, I got in some great runs this week for my first official week of training for the Saint Louis Go! Half Marathon. All my runs in Valpo were on the treadmill, but I got outside on Friday in St. Louis. Even that run was cold—16 degrees with a wind chill of 5 degrees!

Monday: 8 miles easy on the treadmill, 1:08:21, (8:32/mile)
Tuesday: 8 miles on the treadmill with 5 miles at goal HM pace (7:35/mile) followed by some simple strength training (squats, planks, pushups, and bridges) and some foam rolling. This run felt really great and the faster portion helped pass time on the treadmill!
Wednesday: 3 miles easy on the treadmill, 26:52, (8:57/mile), and 25 minutes of Pilates
Thursday: 10 miles easy on the treadmill, 1:26:25, (8:38/mile). I felt a bit weak in the beginning but settled into a good rhythm and made sure I took fuel during this run. It wasn’t my best long run, but I got it done and that’s what matters.
Friday: 7 super hilly miles outside. I ran near my parent’s house, and the loop I ran had about a steep hill that I climbed probably 9 or 10 times. It was so cold and I wanted to quit so many times, but I powered through and felt so good. Sometimes it takes me like 4 or 5 miles until I start feeling good and run. 
Saturday: 4 or 5 miles of walking in Seattle!
Sunday: 3 or so miles of walking before catching our flight. 

36 miles total for the week!

And now we’re thinking of booking a trip to Portland, OR for later this year. OMG I love the Pacific Northwest with the mountains and the ocean.

How was your week?