Life Lately and Weekly Workouts (May 4)

Hi, everyone! How was your weekend? 

Life Lately

This weekend was our last weekend in Valparaiso, IN. I remember when I moved out of my apartment the summer after graduating from Valparaiso University and how bittersweet it felt leaving a place with so many memories and not knowing when I would be back. Now, three years later, there’s so many more memories and we really don’t know when we’ll be back, so we’ve been savoring every moment here.  

Although I will not miss this weather. It’s been cold, super windy, and then all of a sudden we will get one nice day and then it will get cold again…until it’s summer and it’s hot, humid, and there’s no wind. I’m ready for the steady and mild temperatures in Seattle. SO ready. And the winters? We will only see snow when we seek it out on the mountains (or are in St. Louis for Christmas and it happens to snow). You know you’re from the Midwest when you devote this much mental energy to talking and thinking about the weather. 

You know how last week I said the move was stressing Charlie out…he spent a majority of this week hiding under the bed. I think he thought I was going to box him up. Maybe we shouldn’t have jokingly put him in a box…

We made it up to Charlie by letting him have some energetic off-leash time at the park. He is such a good boy and doesn’t go far from us, but we will stand apart and he’ll sprint back and forth between. it’s seriously the most precious thing because he gets a huge smile on his face when he gets to run free. We tried to get him to fetch sticks, but he would just run to the stick and point. 

Have you seen Avengers: Age of Ultron? We saw it Thursday night. SO GOOD. Then again,  my favorite movies ever are (a) Star Wars trilogy, (b) Lord of the Rings trilogy, and (c) any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies (ummm minus Ant-Man. Like, is that one a joke?), so of course I’m going to love it. Ryan actually had to put the first Avengers on a temporary “no-watch” list after I made us watch it roughly twenty times when it first came out on DVD. If we hadn’t been so busy with packing, I probably would have made us watch everything from Iron Man through Guardians of the Galaxy this week. Yes, I’m a total nerd. 

Speaking of my nerdiness, I got the Hansons Marathon Method book this week! I’m so excited to read it and even more excited to start training for Portland. One month until training begins!

Weekly Workouts

Running keeps me sane and makes spending the days spent packing up boxes so much more manageable. I would have loved to get more miles in this week, but there were days where we had so much to do that I kept my runs short. 

Monday: 7 miles easy, 8:25/mile average pace, followed by 6 x 100-m strides and some drills. So windy on this run, but I managed a 7:46 for my last mile. PM: 20 minutes strength training 
Tuesday: 7 miles easy, 8:31/mile average pace, with some nice rolling hills the whole way
Wednesday: 4 miles easy on the treadmill, 1% incline, 8:45/mile average pace, followed by 30 minutes of power yoga
Thursday: 3 miles easy on the treadmill, 1% incline, 8:45/mile average. I was going to run long, but my calf was cramping and I let the stress and emotions of the move get to me. PM: 20 minutes of Pilates.
Friday: 4 miles easy on the treadmill, 1-2.5% incline, 8:55/mile average pace. I was going to run with Charlie, but I slept in after being out late for Avengers and then didn’t get to run until right around lunch…when I had bread in the oven and a load of laundry going. So treadmill it was! 
Saturday: 10 miles easy, 8:13/mile average pace, with the last 2 miles around goal marathon pace. I love long runs. 

35 miles for the week!

I only listened to music on my treadmill runs, and it has made running even more relaxing to go music-free outside. Seriously, ten miles just flew by on Saturday and I would have gone for longer if I didn’t need to prep the apartment for (more) showings. 

Questions of the Day:
Did you see Avengers: Age of Ultron this weekend? Are you a fan of the Marvel movies?
Any great packing tips to share? —-> Ryan might have to re-pack everything I packed. 
What was your best run last week?