Yesterday morning I woke up and DREADED the thought of doing speedwork. No real reason, to be honest. The weather was fine (at least for GA in the summer), I had time, and I was feeling back to normal. So what did I do? Skipped it.
Of course, the guilt ate at me all day and I decided to tackle it around 7:30pm, an hour or so after dinner. Normally that's enough time for me to digest-but not yesterday. Below are the planned intervals, and then the actual:
2x1200 meters @ 6:02 Actual: 6:01, 6:04
4X800 @ 3:58 Actual: 4:00, 4:01, 3:57, 4:01
Add in a warm-up, cool-down, and some walk/jog intervals in between, and it was 7 miles. As you can see, I missed the mark I was going for nearly every time. I can be pretty hard on myself, and this was really disappointing. Trying to just be proud I made it out there and gave it my all!
Dinner was a take on the Caprese salad. Whenever I eat out at an Italian restaurant, I'm drawn to both Caprese salads and bruschetta. So last night's creation was a bit of both. I made a mixed salad from a gorgeous orange tomato, a red roma tomato, and some fresh wet mozzarella balls. All mixed up with olive oil, balsamic, and a touch of sea salt. Mine was served in romaine lettuce boats to eat by hand:
Of course, the guilt ate at me all day and I decided to tackle it around 7:30pm, an hour or so after dinner. Normally that's enough time for me to digest-but not yesterday. Below are the planned intervals, and then the actual:
2x1200 meters @ 6:02 Actual: 6:01, 6:04
4X800 @ 3:58 Actual: 4:00, 4:01, 3:57, 4:01
Add in a warm-up, cool-down, and some walk/jog intervals in between, and it was 7 miles. As you can see, I missed the mark I was going for nearly every time. I can be pretty hard on myself, and this was really disappointing. Trying to just be proud I made it out there and gave it my all!
Dinner was a take on the Caprese salad. Whenever I eat out at an Italian restaurant, I'm drawn to both Caprese salads and bruschetta. So last night's creation was a bit of both. I made a mixed salad from a gorgeous orange tomato, a red roma tomato, and some fresh wet mozzarella balls. All mixed up with olive oil, balsamic, and a touch of sea salt. Mine was served in romaine lettuce boats to eat by hand:
The second picture was for hubs--he spooned the salad onto some garlic bread (sliced french loaf with olive spread and garlic baked for a few minutes).
This is one of those meals that hubby looks at and asks, "what will the main course be?" Although he ate this and was full, which made me happy! I get so excited when I make a meat-free meal that he loves. Especially ones with lots of veggies and healthy ingredients!
Got some more use out of the mozarella today for lunch. I had a rice cake trio, each topped with different ingredients. a) peanut butter, b) apple butter, and c) tomato sauce and mozzarella, under the broiler until melted. Hello, rice cake pizza. New favorite:
Do you regularly make meat-free meals? What is your secret to making it hearty enough for someone with a big appetite?
It seems that pasta with tons of cheese is a real winner for hubs. I find that adding in plenty of fat (olive oil, nut butters, avocado, etc.) makes meals much more filling.
How do you react when you fall short of your fitness goals?
Honestly, this is so tough for me. I don't like failing. I try to listen to my body, but when I'm healthy and feeling great and STILL can't make the mark, it's tough. I definitely need to work on being positive and not being so hard on myself!
i must try the rice cake pizza,great idea
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you that being less than 1% of for your goal pace is really not "missing" anything - it means that your goal is a reach and you have something to shoot for next time. Way to challenge yourself!
ReplyDeleteagreed. the rice cake pizza is an amazing idea!!! i have seen so many "healthy" pizza ideas lately...i really need to try some of them because pizza is my absolute addiction. i love your salad...it looks so colorful. i eat MANY meat free meals. for me if I can fill something with veggies then I am set. Sometimes I will also add black beans and that helps me feel even a bit more full.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely relate to the frustrated you talked about. I feel like the second half of this summer has been incredibly frustrating for me. I am either obsessing too much or running well but just not mentally in it. Its definitely a cycle...often I try to remind myself to stay in the moment. that seems to be the best way to pull me out of a negative mood. usually my negativity is related to things in the past and future that are out of my control.
But that workout was almost spot-on! My coach in college always said as long as we were within a few seconds either way of our 'assigned interval pace', we were doing great. It's hard to narrow it down to the second, so if you're in the 5-second range, you're still working the right system. It's when you're 10-15+ seconds off that the speed workout is not really doing any good. Great job!
ReplyDeleteummm perhaps i'm bad at math, but your times are super close, i'd call that a success! especially late in the day and after having eaten!
ReplyDeletei love caprese salads putting them in lettuce is clever
Love the idea of rice cake pizzas! I do the salad boat thing alot, hehe. I make the hubs tacos and me lettuce wraps :)
ReplyDeleteI almost never make fat free meals, my active little ones need the fat and so does my super active husband. I could go either way but I do really like some fat.
ReplyDeleteI get frustrated when I fall short of my fitness goals and think i should be doing better than I am.
We do eat lots of meat free meals so use beans, soy crumbles, eggs and cheese ... also combinations of grains, beans to get in protein.
ReplyDeleteA little healthy fat helps satisfaction levels, for sure.
About 2/3 of my meals are meat-free, so I load Hubby up on cheeses and toast in addition to anything I'm eating that he says is "too light" for him.
ReplyDeleteI used to let bad runs get to me and I'd try again the next day, leading me to over-train. But, thankfully, it took just one bout of it to learn my lesson. :) When I have a crappy run day, I try to brush it off and do better the next time. Not every day will be a good day :)
I LOVE rice cakes, espically topped with some type of cottage cheese and peanut butter combo. I too can get real down on myself when I don't see results. I think half my problem can be that I try too hard sometimes, and if I would back down a little and give my body more rest I would perform better, easier said then done.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh girl I can't believe you don't think you had a good speed session! You were so close to your goals, and sometimes even under them! Getting that close is amazing! I know you know that getting within a few seconds is exactly the point, don't be so hard on yourself! I am all about the healthy fats to fill me up, and protein is also key. I'm a huge volume eater, so if I make pasta, it is LOADED with veggies so that I am eating a giant bowl of deliciousness. Tiny meals don't do it for me.
ReplyDeleteI love using a little extra fat in my meat free meals. I think that's why fish is so filling, even though it's so low in calories. Also, I make sure not to skimp on the startchy carbs (grains, bread, pasta, etc). If I focus too much on produce, I will be hungry twenty minutes later.
ReplyDeleteYou're killing me with those pictures of delicious food!!!!!! Love that you took a salad and made it into something so different than just a salad. I have eaten a caprese salad at least 3 times a week this summer - what a great idea to make it a boat or a topper!
ReplyDeleteFor speed work -I'm sure there isn't anything I can add to your far more in depth knowledge than I have, but in the spring "C" and I started to use a metronome (fancy folks have an app for that on their phone - we only have a separate beeping device that can clip on your belt). We set the beats per minute and head off - it's a fun challenge to keep up with the dang thing. just changes it up a little. Maybe it might make it fun for you too???? Didn't mean to sound like a know-it-all, but thought I would share our "trick" with you for making it slightly more fun :)
Salad looks amazing! We rarely eat meat at home and the transition has been great. I literally just made my first ever meal with chickpeas but they were crazy filling. Even for me and I eat like a horse. My husband even liked them.
ReplyDeleteI literally just started running again... ahem, I mean walk/jogging, and it is so hard. Good for you for doing the workout anyway! After dinner even!
Good job with the run! I know it can be disappointing to miss a goal but be proud that you got out there and did it. It is way more than some people do.
ReplyDeleteomg seeing food on blogs makes me drool. We haven't had a decent meal in a week and I'm starting to go batty!
ReplyDeleteI've just started adding avocado to my meat-free meals and I'm really enjoying it! I agree that it helps make them more filling too... Congrats on all of the colorful food! Makes me hungry just looking at it...
ReplyDeleteOh yum... I love fresh mozzarella cheese... mmmmmm..
ReplyDeletegood idea with the rice cake pizza, might have to try it...although the speedwork didn't go as you planned, it was pretty darn close and I commend you for getting out there to begin with!
ReplyDeleteYou might have had a slight no-carb energy tummy ache, I know before hard workouts I need a little carb (either some bar or dry cereal) or I get crampy...
I actually had a caprese salad yesterday! SO YUMMY. But, I couldn't eat it all. The mozzarella seems soooo rich to me. Definitely filling!!
ReplyDeleteWhen my Hubby and I first met he was a true steak and potatos kinda guy, now he says we should become vegetarians! We eat fish usually twice a week and chicken a couple times a week and vegetarian a coupls times.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how you can say you did not meet the target paces. In my book those are deadly consistent and accurate. Maybe an elevation change caused you to be off? The food looks so delicious... in an appetizer kind of way (I jest). I made a margherita pizza recently that was meatless and well received. Perhaps the dairy involved satiates even the most savage meat eater as you speculate. Thanks for sharing your training.
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ReplyDeleteLoved the rice cake pizza. Amazing
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