Welcome to the weekly wrap-up, and it’s late. Work has kept me busy, but I was about to plan things out for the first time and feel a bit “normal.” I changed my diet, meal prepped some food, and the Louisiana Marathon weekend was my favorite race weekend of the year. No excuses; it just needs to get done.
Workouts for the week:
Monday: 40 min run. I went into the run wanting to take it easy, and I could go in the morning because I didn’t have to go to work. It felt great getting my workout done in the morning.
Tuesday: Cross-training day. I did a Peleton bike boot camp. I like the bike bootcamps because it’s a sneaky way of getting my strength workout done and some cardio. I woke up at 5 am to get my training done, and it felt good. I get much more accomplished in the day when I can wake up early.
Wednesday: 30 min race week pick-ups. Speed workouts are challenging yet fulfilling. I got my workout done outside in a decent time. I wasn’t worried about the number of the workout. My focus was on getting the training done.
Thursday and Friday: Rest days reserved for stretching.
Saturday: Louisiana Marathon 5K. This race was the fastest 5K I’ve run in a long time. I finished the race at 41:25, and I wasn’t even trying. Everything was frantic that morning, so I wasn’t in the mood for the “race,” plus, I had the half marathon the next day. It’s amazing what happens when you’re just there for a good time.
Sunday: Louisiana Marathon Half Marathon. I went out with no goals but ended up beating my previous half marathon time from a month ago by approximately 40 seconds. I haven’t done heavy running since my half marathon last month, and my previous 90-minute run went horribly. I wanted to have a good time running this weekend, which was the focus. But I ended up finishing in 3:09:25.
What I ate:
I switched my diet up this week. I am giving the Mediterranean diet an honest try. I NEEDED to switch things up because I lost focus on meal prepping and food. I needed to cook more food at home and eat more vegetables.
I ate chickpea avocado toast for breakfast, which was the best avocado toast I’ve ever had. The chickpeas gave it some extra protein, and it was very filling. On the days I didn’t eat this, I had some oatmeal and fruit.
For lunch, I had tuna chickpea salad. This wasn’t my favorite meal. I could eat it once or twice, but I don’t think it was something I could eat all week. It was missing something.
For dinner, I made a shrimp pesto quinoa bowl, and on the days I didn’t eat it with quinoa, I had wheat pasta. Also, I ate chicken sausage with my navy beans and vegetables. This meal hit the spot.
Did I notice any changes?
I felt full all week, and I drank a lot of water. (I used the bathroom a lot, too.) I slept better and felt more rested throughout the week. I didn’t feel the need to take a nap and didn’t experience any headaches.
I ate the meals I prepared except on Thursday, Saturday night, and Sunday. I cooked my food at the hotel on Friday and Saturday morning and afternoon. I ate a Jimmy John’s veggie sandwich. I split a cheese pizza from Whole Foods with Tot on Saturday night. I didn’t think it would be a great idea to load up on vegetables and beans before running my half marathon.
After the race, I ate shrimp po’boy, hush puppies and tried fries covered in crawfish etouffee. It’s a shame I spent $8 on those fries because I didn’t eat the whole thing. I just wanted to taste them. And for dinner on Sunday, I ate food from my favorite Greek restaurant in Baton Rouge.
Everything else:
- I read The Guest List by Lisa Foley. I highly recommend this book. I’m not a fan of the Reese Book Club recommendations, but this book did not disappoint.
- I got a new Go Pro monopod and mount because I recently broke my tripod mount and didn’t know it. I ran the half marathon with the monopod, and it worked better than what I had before.
- It was nice to enjoy some great family time and relax, especially after the first week of the year we had.