Race Week

The 10k race at Bernheim is this Saturday and I've had two really good runs this week which have boosted my confidence.

On Monday, I ran 3.35 miles. My goal was to maintain a steady pace, but not go overboard.

Mile 1: 10:06
Mile 2: 9:37
Mile 3: 10:02

On Tuesday, I swam and did strength training. I'll come back to that in a second.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I did a tempo run that was challenging yet rewarding. I ran 3.81 miles.

Mile 1: 10:03
Mile 2: 9:01
Mile 3: 8:42

You can see that I am only giving my stats for full miles run. Tempo runs train your body to run faster, but you aren't doing full out sprints. Running a mile before you start warms up the body, and then you can turn up the heat and see what your body and mind are capable of! I stayed on a reasonably flat course for my tempo run because I wanted to focus on speed and not hills. After a while, your body just gets into the groove and you're cruising! After Mile 3, I took it way down and walked for a couple of minutes then jogged the rest of the way home.

Back to strength training. Since I've gotten back into weights in the past couple of weeks I've been reaping the rewards. I cannot stress enough the importance of strength training. If your muscles are strong, the better they can support your bones, your ligaments, your joints, etc. You don't have to be in the gym bench pressing a crazy amount of weight to get the benefits. I go for low weight and high reps and it hasn't let me down so far. Don't forget about strength training!!

Food:

I tried Kroger's brand of Greek yogurt yesterday. Honestly, it was awful. It was just as runny as their standard yogurt, the flavor wasn't good, and the consistency was a bit grainy. Fage or Oikos are the best Greek yogurt brands I've had to date. They are more expensive, but if you buy the tubs as opposed to the small cups, then you save there.

Last night I made some Butternut Squash. I cut off how much I wanted to cook, peeled it with a potato peeler, and scooped out the pulp and seeds. Then, I cut the section into small chunks, and put it into one of those Ziplok steamer bags that cooks vegetables in the microwave. 3 minutes later, I dumped the squash into a bowl and added butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Butter and sugar makes anything taste great! Normally I would try and roast the squash or do something a little more creative, but the Ziplok steamer bags come in handy when you are hungry and wanting to eat soon!

Bikram tonight with friends!