sidebar | life and training 3.17 – 3.23

No Spend April?

Last month I was slammed in the face with two huge and somewhat unexpected expenses. The first was my laptop, which I’ve discussed (love my new little guy so far), and which I knew was upcoming eventually. I just expedited the process after getting so fucken fed up one weekend with my old one crashing every two minutes.

The second was this here website. FMG renews every two years and the cost is not cute. I thought the charge went through in April, but turns out my auto payment clears two weeks prior to the expiration. So, one fine Thursday afternoon, I was caught with my financial pants down and absolutely not hyped about the exposure. I felt like all of my progress towards my credit card was deleted with those two charges.

So, in a fit of pissed offery, I decided that the remainder of March and all of April I’m going the No-Spend route.

What does this mean? No purchases outside the necessities. This means groceries, gas, bills, and certain wellness costs (for me, my monthly hair buzz, my hosting charges, and my probiotic auto delivery do not count in the budgeting.) I’ve cut my grocery bill down quite a lot these past few months so I plan to keep with that minimalism, as it’s also been really fun to be thrifty and creative at once.

Instead, I’m looking for ways to support my wellbeing that don’t involve throwing down the dollas. I plan to visit my library once a week to hunt down books – probably random titles, as my libs are notorious for having 100 person-long holds on shit I want to read – find some online yoga videos to improve my recovery game (seriously, I’m SO stiff in my old age), take lots of nature walks, do a lot of cleaning and purging (which I do already), and other little things like movie nights or homemade pizza or maybe a pool party if it warms up enough.

Honestly, I’m kind of excited. I’m interested to see more in-depth what I spend my money on and how much of that consumption really doesn’t matter to my overall happiness. And, if I can reverse the dent my web hosting fee knocked into my credit card. We shall see!

A quiet week. I worked a lot so as a result took a lot of time to recuperate. I also hit nearly 40 miles of running so decided this coming week will serve as a down week. No need to keep building with no races in sight and with the weather quickly heating up.

Saturday I ventured over to Flatbread + Butter for the first time. The cute little concept originated in St. Pete, where it still stands strong, but within the last couple years opened a spot in Tampa. I don’t know how often I’d visit here since downtown parking is expensive and difficult to come by, but it was worth the trip this particular day. Same day I got pissed about my credit card too…I enjoyed the Biscoff latte and a cookie with Little Miss Ba. She was in treat heaven!

Sunday I visited mom for a quick coffee and cookie break, then went out to try Nueva Cantina in St. Pete for dinner. This place is a whole ass vibe. Each holiday they spiff up the entire building, in and out, with blow ups themed by the occasion. This time, inflatable bunnies and Easter eggs were strewn within the nooks and a giant archway surrounded the main entrance. The interior is very casual but everything we ordered was fabulous. We even took home two containers of their salsa, it was that good. I enjoyed the Spring Break margarita, which was mango flavored and came with a cute lil rubber duckie, some chips and salsa, and a veggie and mahi taco each. So damn good.

Not sure tacos and margaritas are the most intelligent pre-workout dinner, but hey, I survived today (Monday).

I’ve a lot of chores and life shit lined up this week, including a coworker’s informal wedding on Wednesday, which will be awkward as I know absolutely no one other than her and her husband-to-be, but I look forward to it regardless. Should be busy and hopefully rewarding.

Take care, peeps. Until next week!

The Fuck We Cooking This Week?

…A cozy, creamy, EASY vegetable soup.

…2025’s first batch of ice cream!

A Few Things I’m Digging

Gel…I’m trying to be more mindful of fueling for my important runs (long runs + workouts) even though I HATE eating pre-run. I use these Honey Stinger gels during half marathon training and am now taking one before said quality sessions. The caffeine give me a boost and it definitely helps spur me on during my workouts.

Leggings…I love everything I own from Quince and these crossover leggings are no exception. Soft, comfy, and fit nicely.

This Week’s Menu

Meatless Monday…Broccoli “Bacon” Caesar Pasta Salad

Taco Tuesday…Adobo Mushroom Carnitas Tacos

Wednesday…Spicy Blackened Shrimp and Avocado Greek Salad

Thursday…Honey Chipotle Chili Lime Salmon Bowls

Friday Happy Hour…Mango Basil Mojito

Saturday baking…Egg Yolk Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sunday Snack…Asparagus Gruyere Tart with Pesto

Shops & Wish List

Skincare & Wellness

Garden of Life…Needed a new protein powder so I’m giving this a try. Bought the vanilla flavor.

The Feed…Trying to stay away from Amazon for my sporting goods and The Feed is a reliable alternative. Need to grab more of my Honey Stinger gels and wafels, as well as my GU electrolyte tablets.

Home

Ikea…Bought some prints a few weeks ago that I need to hang so looking at these gold doohickeys.

Fashion

Target…Liking this cute flutter sleeve floral minidress. The scallop detail on this pointelle pajama set is endearing, or this lace set, and I love this floral triangle bikini set.

Week in Training

Monday, 3.17: 7 miles, 9:58 pace + 23 minute leg day

Something of a cutback week this week, though this workout didn’t much make it seem like I was attempting to reduce mileage. Ah well. Maybe I’ll just deload my strength training. I didn’t want to do anything when I woke up this morning – a proper session felt daunting. I modified to 400s instead of my originally planned 800s and took a Honey Stinger Salted Caramel Latte gel beforehand. What a difference! 8 x 400m with 2 minutes recovery. Set my watch to yell at me if I deviated from a 7:25-7:35 pace range and I nailed it. Felt strong and less impacted by my allergies too!

Strength:

• 2 x 15 ea. single leg deadlift 40#
• 2 x 15 diamond squat 40#
• 2 x 16 alt. front lunge 40#
• 2 x 15 hip thrust 60#
• 2 x 15 ea. single leg press 90#
• 3 x 15 stir the pot + forearm stands

Tuesday, 3.18: 5 miles, 11:02 pace + 20 minute back and bis

Easy miles. The wind was definitely annoying me by the end, and it was a wee bit chilly!

Strength:

• 2 x 12 ea. single arm row 25#
• 2 x 12 waiter curl 35#
• 2 x 10 mid row 60#
• 3 x 6 ea. incline biceps curl 20#
• 2 x 12 ea. upright row 20#
• Core work + forearm stands

Wednesday, 3.19: 4.5 miles, 11:09 pace + 22 minute legs

Long workday yesterday and stressful, so woke up today from a HARD sleep feeling stiff and okay with any pace that came out of the woodwork. Felt nice out and my heartrate was nice and low but I was definitely feeling the fatigue the rest of the day.

Strength:

• 2 x 12 squat 90#
• 2 x 15 ea. donkey kick 25#
• 2 x 10 ea. split squat 40#
• 2 x 25 calf raise 150#
• 2 x 12 leg press 180#
• Core circuit + forearm stands

Thursday, 3.20: 5.5 miles, 10:21 pace + 2.44 miles, 10:16 pace

Morning speed/afternoon easy in gorgeous weather. Kinda missed my double days! 15 minutes of 15 seconds hard/45 easy in the AM. This is a riff off the 30/30 workout I’ve done a couple times, except with a bit higher effort on the fast intervals. Ran anywhere from 7:23 to 6:20 pace with a max of 5:52. Not bad!

Friday, 3.21: 3.5 miles, 11:09 pace + 21 minute chest & tris

Slow miles, cold again and a big breeze.

Strength:

• 2 x 12 incline bench press 20#
• 2 x 10 Arnold 15#
• 3 x 10 triceps pushdown 32#
• 2 x 12 chest press 25#
• 2 x 20 triceps dip 15#
• 2 x 12 ea. lateral raise 15#
• Core work

Saturday, 3.22: 11 miles, 10:58 pace

Nice to see an average in the 10s again! My first mile was 11:41 which is really humorous to me – goes to show that the first mile does not fucking matter and even if it takes me time to warm up, I usually get into a groove later. Took a Honey Stinger gel before I set out and felt pretty good throughout.

Total running mileage: 38.9