sidebar | life and training 9.9 – 9.15
The sweet, sweet smell of a pumpkin candle burning in 90 degree weather.
We really don’t have much relief in sight as far as the temperatures go, so I’m doing my best in fake-it mode. And honestly, I’m doing a pretty good job over here. The explosion of autumn truly has boosted my mood – even on shit-mood days, of which there’ve been more than I’d like this past week. I feel comforted by the muted color scheme, the daily pumpkin spice lattes, the “pumpkin patch” inspired throw pillow scene on my couch. And, some good eats.
Speaking of eats – I finally got my ass over to Trader Joe’s to partake in a huge autumnal snack haul. Some things I just haven’t found good replacements for at other stores, so I stocked up big time in order to avoid dealing with that parking lot again in the discernible future…Most notable among my stash is lots of pumpkin butter, maple oat milk, leaf tortilla chips, the flavored yogurts, maple coffee, and that pumpkin brioche bread. Holy shit, it’s good.
Despite a few tumultuous days, I’d call this past week a mental health win. I brought myself up from a bit of a weekend pit, even though the depths were rather dreary and unpleasant and generally unhelpful for the healing expedition on which I’ve embarked. I’m certainly not a master of my emotions yet: I still let the discomfiting thoughts plow through and disrupt any real feeling I can muster from the experience. A work in progress, but it always feels extra good when I pick myself back up and realize that these difficult days can be overcome, and are not permanent.
The real highlight of the week was Sunday. I ran the Fort Desoto Oktoberfest 10K, a race I’ve done before in a previous brand and with the 15K distance instead. I completed my final real workout on Monday and felt confident I could probably squeeze out an 8:05-8:10 average assuming nothing went wrong on race day.
Prior to Sunday my mood was rather low and uninspired. I spent Saturday rather lazily, partially in an attempt to rest before the race and partially because I had 0 inspiration to do much other than loaf around the house, start a puzzle I bought, and snack mindlessly.
I woke up Sunday not feeling much better. I went for a 30 minute walk to loosen my legs up and to wake my body a bit, sat down for a coffee and stroopwafel, and journaled briefly before readying myself for a long drive out to the park. I didn’t have the thought to not do the race, but I wasn’t exactly excited either and kinda wanted to get shit over with.
Once I landed at Fort Desoto and did my warmup, though, I felt a tiny bit better. The sun began to creep up and the trees teased us with a slight breeze at points, but overall the weather was shite: 80 degrees, 78 dew point, and overall very still. We all lined up around 7 only to be told that each race would be delayed at least 5 minutes (turned out to be 10) so latecomers could peel into the parking lot and have a chance to start their races. A bit irritating, that was, considering the conditions would only worsen as time ticked forward.
The 15K started first, then my race at 7:30. I went out a bit too fast and by mile 2 was feeling the exertion, so I let myself slow up and recover just slightly so I could swing back into a groove. For the first 3 miles I paced along with a gal who ended up being the 3rd overall finisher – she was awesome, sending out a big “woohoo!” at the 5K turnaround. My only response was to clap weirdly like a tired seal.
Around mile 4 or 5 I caught up with a dude in some sweet duck shorts, who I’d also been flip-flopping positions with. I passed him for the last time and he sputtered out a “Keep it up!” and I replied with a very strained “You too.” I always love the camaraderie between runners in these events: I’ve never encountered malice, probably because we aren’t anywhere close to being pro and don’t take ourselves too seriously. I mean, I’m sure plenty of runners do, but leastwise the ones I interact with most aren’t of that breed.
Those final 2 miles I got a bit of a wind back, maybe because I was so ready to be done with that shit. I tend to forget what happens at the tail end of a race since I’m hyperfocused on the finish. When I rounded the bend back to the parking lot at mile 6, I let loose as much as I could to reach the finish. I thought my legs might keep running without me.
I crossed in 50:20, an 8:06 official pace. Greeted by water tables but…no medals? Turns out our medals are delayed at customs in Miami, a fact which the race directors claimed was communicated in email but most certainly was not. Really disappointing.
I found a pal I met in the Cupcake 5K last month, and we hung out most of the post-race festivities. Logistical fail #2: I couldn’t find the good beer! I saw people walking around later with 3 Daughters and TBBC “Gourds Gone Wild” but I had no idea where they got the cans. Big bummer. At any rate, it was still nice to catch up with him, and at one point I ducked away to take a phone call that was short, sweet, and much less awkward than the one we shared a few days prior.
Logistical fail #3: the awards ceremony. Turns out I finished 2nd overall woman, but you wouldn’t know it considering the announcer dude failed to bring up myself and the 1st place girl. He called the 3rd place but totally skipped us! During the age group awards (after confirming many times with my pal who was just as lost as I was) I went up to the certificate table and asked the volunteers what happened. They were also confused, and the announcer had the fucken nerve to claim that we “missed it”. I found the other girl who was gipped and we both went back to the table together to grab our awards. The volunteers agreed with us that the guy didn’t do his job properly.
A photographer approached myself and the other girl and got a photo of us together by the Oktoberfest sign, so that was nice retribution.
I look forward to my next races – the environment is nothing short of supportive in these types of events. I’m signing up for a Halloween 10K as well as a Turkey Trot in November, and maybe a 5K or something in between.
The week otherwise wasn’t terribly interesting. I had a doctor’s appointment, did a fuckton of cleaning, studied, hung out with my cozy sheep friends, tried and failed at a caramel apple experiment…the usual. I look forward to a few easier days of running before my next 10K cycle, and have some kitchen projects about which I’m rather excited!
Oh, and I buzzed my hair again. Woohoo.
Have a gentle week, folks.
The Fuck We Cooking This Week?
…Simple, tasty pumpkin cookies!
…Stuffed pretzels fab for gameday and Oktoberfest celebrations.
..A creamy, cozy tortellini.
A Few Things I’m Digging
Potato chips…Target just released an answer to TJ’s stuffing flavored potato chips, except in a ripple version, and holy god they’re divine. Ate some for lunch with a “turkey”, Swiss, and apple sandwich. Amazeballs.
PSL…Unleashed my Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte on Friday and guys, it’s a doozy. Simple ingredients, luxurious cozy flavor. I’ve been sipping one practically every day lately! Love them with a pumpkin muffin or the pumpkin brioche bread from Trader Joe’s.
Pancakes…Kodiak released their pumpkin flax pancake mix. It’s great. I added chocolate chips to a batch over the weekend and they definitely remind me of my Pumpkin Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes – which I also recommend you give a whirl this season.
Apple Cider Recipes To Try
If you’ve bought your first bottle of apple cider and need a nudge in the right culinary direction, here’s a few ideas to get your creative juices a-flowin’! And don’t worry, there’s plenty more to come this year.
Sage Butter Cider Glazed Salmon
Maple Cider Glazed Salmon with Honey Butter Polenta
Harvest Fig and Kale Crunch Salad with Tahini Cider Dressing
Baked Bourbon Apple Cider Doughnuts
Sparkling Cranberry Cider Tequila Punch
Smoky Apple Cider Bourbon Sour
Week in Training
Monday, 9.9: 7.5 miles, 9:13 pace + 16 minute lift
Last workout before Sunday’s grand salami. This was a toughy and I was dreading it, but it turned out pretty well! I still don’t much know what a realistic goal for my race is, though I’m thinking my training is indicating an 8:10-8:15 range. I basically want to go out strong and not fall flat on my face and die by mile 4, which is what a 7:55 felt like this morning. 2 mile warmup, 2 x 2 miles with 2:30 recovery: 8:15, 8:02, 7:54, 7:55.
Strength:
- 3 x 12 alt. reverse lunge 40#
- 3 x 10 shoulder press 15#
- 3 x 10 ea. single leg pistol squat 10#
- 3 x 10 pushup
- Core work
Tuesday, 9.10: 5 miles, 10:29 pace
Coolish breeze and I felt pretty awake during this easy run.
Wednesday, 9.11: 4.23 miles, 10:39 pace
Decent run, legs felt a little heavy and it was definitely stickier out.
Thursday, 9.12: 5.02 miles, 9:42 pace + 17 minute lift
Not super happy with this session, no real excuse for it either. But, the point more or less was to keep the legs turning before my race Sunday and I suppose I accomplished that. 2 mile warmup, 1 mile push (7:58), 4 x 200 (:52, :52, :50, :52), cooldown to 5 miles.
Strength:
- 4 x 8 ea. single leg deadlift 60#
- 5 x 5 barbell clean 30#
- 2 x 15 squat 30#
- 10/8/6 straight arm pulldown 28/32/37#
Friday, 9.13: 3.15 mile walk (47:46)
Switched up my walking rest day to today since I’ll be racing on Sunday.
Saturday, 9.14: 4.21 miles, 10:42 pace
The past couple days I’ve been really stressed and deregulated, and this morning didn’t feel so great from that standpoint. Hoping I shook out some of the physical gunk at least before racing tomorrow.
Sunday, 9.15: *FORT DESOTO OKTOBERFEST 10K* 6.2 miles, 8:06 pace
Wow was it hot out. 80 degrees at the start and almost no breeze. This race was tough. The conditions were terrible and the start was delayed 10 minutes (not huge, but still made me antsy nonetheless). Logistically this race was not great: the medals are apparently stuck at customs in Miami, I couldn’t find the good beer, and the dude announcing the awards cut off into age groups after acknowledging the 3rd overall women, so me (number 2! woo!) and another girl were gipped of the limelight. Not that I care about that part, but the worst of it was that he tried to gaslight everyone and say that we “missed it.” Nonetheless, it was a decent race and about what I expected time-wise. I ran into my pal from the Cupcake 5K a few weeks ago – he ran the 15K this time – so it was nice to see a familiar face and chat for awhile. Also got an unexpected phone call while we stood around, which was nice.
Total running mileage: 33.7
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