November 24, 2015

Ahh, speed work

Other than when I was doing the run/walk method to get back to running after injury, the last time I did real speed work was December 2nd of last year. Yikes! It was shortly after that when I developed the stress fracture, and ever since, I was doing all run/walking and easy running. Today was my first day back to doing actual speed work, if only for a short duration. 

On the schedule: 4 x 400's @ 7:08-7:32/mi with a 60-second rest between intervals.

That just means to run a quarter mile at a 7:08-7:32/mile pace, and then rest for 60 seconds. Then repeat three more times. I love the short duration of the 400's, because when I was training for the Chicago Marathon, my intervals were much longer (400, 600, 800, 1200, 1600, 2-mile, and 3-mile intervals!). At my fastest, I used to do the 400's at a 9.0-10.0 mph setting on the treadmill; today, I was hoping I could do 8.0 and keep up. 

I probably could have done this run outside, but I actually prefer doing intervals on the treadmill. It's easy to set the pace and just try not to fly off the back of the treadmill. It was freezing outside, so I dressed like I was going to run outside--and then I went into the garage (where we moved the treadmill). It was kind of fun having a new environment to run in. Jerry hung a shelf in front of the treadmill for my computer, so that I could watch Netflix while I ran. 

First, I did a half-mile warm-up at 6.0 mph. Then I bumped it up to 8.0 for the first interval. It really didn't feel too bad! It wasn't easy, but it wasn't miserable, either. The best part is knowing that it'll be over with very soon, because the intervals are so short. 

I chose to do rests between intervals, instead of walking or jogging. Walking or jogging is probably preferable, but I find that I actually enjoy the speed work more when I rest between intervals. I'm able to run the intervals harder, and I have that little break to look forward to. A one-minute rest goes by so fast! It was just enough time to catch my breath, and then I had to hop back on the treadmill and start running again. 

The whole workout went by really fast. When I was doing the cool down, I had that bad muscle spasm in my abdomen again, so I only did a quarter-mile cool down. I really hope that spasming doesn't continue! It's more painful than any injury I've endured.



After the run, I felt like I had worked hard, but I also felt like I probably could have pushed it harder. Next week, I'll probably try 8.2 mph and see how it goes. I'll also be doing 5 intervals instead of 4. Even though speed work feels totally miserable during the workout, I feel absolutely amazing afterward. 



I was going through my Pinterest recipe boards, and through some of my cookbooks, and I really want to start trying some new recipes. I'm going to try to bring back "Taste Test Tuesday", where I try a new recipe and review it here. One of my goals for 2016 is going to be to try a new recipe once a week; but it doesn't hurt to start now! 

Today, I made a crock pot recipe that I came across on Pinterest. It's called Bourbon "Crack" Chicken (Crock Pot Style)--which is an odd name, because there is no bourbon in it. After some searching around, I saw that it was based off of a style of chicken from Bourbon Street in Louisiana. 

Anyway, I know nothing about the name or origin of this recipe; I just thought the ingredients sounded good, and I happened to have everything on hand, except for apple juice. Since it only called for 1/4 cup of apple juice, I just substituted water. I didn't want to go buy apple juice for that tiny amount. 

I love recipes like this where you don't have to do any prep work--you just toss everything in the crock pot. I had to trim the chicken, but other than that, there is nothing to prep. We ate it over rice for dinner, and it was delicious! This recipe is definitely a keeper, and one that I will make again when I have very little time to prep. The kids liked it, too (I decreased the red pepper flakes to 1/2 tsp, because of the kids; but it was very mild, so next time, I'll use the 3/4 tsp it calls for). 


The recipe yielded nine 1/2 cup servings of the chicken, which made it only 176 calories per serving (not including rice). 

Jerry brought home a turkey from work this morning. Every year, the company gives out turkeys to all the employees... but it's always the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and the turkeys are frozen solid. Thawing a 17-lb turkey takes forever! Usually, we don't cook it until the week or two after Thanksgiving, but this year, I'm going to cook dinner on Thursday. I filled the sink with cold water and I've been thawing the turkey submerged in the water (it's still in the plastic). I hope it's thawed in time! Meanwhile, Estelle claimed the box it came in...


We've gotten the same box each year, and in 2005, I found Noah playing in it. I took this picture, which we used for Christmas cards that year :)

How cute is he?!
Yesterday, on a whim, I decided that I want to do a turkey trot on Thursday morning. The one in Detroit was a huge mess last year, and I remember thinking I never wanted to do it again. There is one in Ann Arbor, so I asked Nathan if he would want to run that one with me. He was hoping to do a turkey trot as well, so we decided to go for it. I'm going to try and run it hard, to see what my current 5K pace is!

14 comments:

  1. Hi Katie! I've been reading your blog daily for over a year now and I've never posted before. I've been patterning a lot of my eating and exercise habits after you for quite awhile and have had quite a bit of success. Pumpkin fluff here I come! I want to know if you still have urges to binge and if so, what do you do? Do you still follow the guidlines in Brain Over Binge? Does your old post about binging still hold true regarming eating a dessert every single day and the like? I work with very young kids (1 year-old and 2 year-old) and the stress is exhausting. Do you have any tips for how to handle young kids without diving into food? Thanks!!

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    1. Good questions! I will make sure to respond in an upcoming blog post :)

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  2. We're doing a turkey trot, too. On Thanksgiving day, which we've never done before. I had to convince myself that leaving the house for a couple hours in the middle of meal prep was an OK thing to do, even though we'll have overnight guests hanging out here waiting for us. We've cut 4+ minutes off our 5K time since moving across the country during the summer. We ran slow and easy last night and race tomorrow morning. Looking forward to seeing a PR for the year, but we'll see.

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    1. Holy cow, four minutes is fantastic! Enjoy your turkey trot... and Thanksgiving with your guests! :)

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  3. I usually do 4 races over the 4 days but my Saturday one is cancelled this year. Bummer but I still have the other 3 and the temps dropped fast this week so I cant be too upset.

    Question, when you do your speed work on the treadmill do you just jump off and on while the belt is moving? Or do you stop the belt and restart? I need to 1. get my treadmill belt to stop slipping and 2. work on speed. My plan for 2016 is to travel less and do more short runs/races to get faster. All the half marathons and the marathon have slowed me down quite a bit.

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    1. I leave the belt running, and I hop off. The treadmill takes several seconds to speed up or slow down, so it's easier just to let it go.

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    2. That is what I was thinking but I am afraid of the jumping back on.....lol I fall on a non moving floor.....

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  4. I'm doing my first turkey trot this Thanksgiving! There was a 5K and an 8K option and I decided to go for the 8K (more calories burned for dinner! haha). It's supposed to rain all day but I'm hoping it's not too bad. I'm really looking forward to it! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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    1. Have fun! And good for you, choosing the 8K option!

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  5. Yikes! I wish you wouldnt bad-mouth the detroit turkey trot run- most people find it awesome!
    As long as you pick up your packet a few days before, it's easy enough to follow their directions not to park at cobo (we usually park at the ren cen). I'd guess 99% of the people are not there to "race" but to get some exercise, get downtown, support the city, and spend time with friends and family- so in that way the crowds (it's the biggest turkey trot in the country) make it really really wonderful, when you think about being with that many like-minded people.
    Please dont let your family's disorganization tint your memory that the race might have been at all disorganized.

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    1. I was referring to all the construction in and around Cobo. Despite being there with plenty of time to spare, we had a very hard time getting to the starting line. Compared to other large races I've done (Indy Mini and Chicago Marathon, for example), I thought it was chaotic. I'd like to try a new one this year! :) That said, I know several people who LOVE the Detroit Turkey Troit.

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    2. Jesus Christ, does your family own the race or something? Take a chill pill.

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  6. The Ann Arbor Turkey Trot is still pretty crowded- it's not like Detroit but it's not one where it's easy to PR.

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    Replies
    1. I ran Detroit hard last year, so I think I can still do that... but if not, it's no big deal :)

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