Can you believe that it’s the middle of October already? And that the Cubs are still playing baseball? And that it’s been a MONTH since my 50k? Time flies! Today I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap to check in halfway through October.
With the Chicago Marathon finishing on Sunday, this was pretty uneventful. Not as many athlete training plans to go over, not as many coaching check-ins to make, pretty ho-hum ordinary. I also was finishing up my month of unstructured training after running the North Face Endurance Challenge 50k in September, meaning I ran when I felt like it, or did yoga when I didn’t. (That last sentence is HUGE for me. Never thought I would be ok with NOT exercising for a day. Progress!). Even though it was a mundane week, I had quite a few enjoyable moments.
The best new vegan find I made was with Angela. We met up on Thursday for some ramen at Jinya in Lakeview. We had not seen each other in FOREVER! I can’t even recall the last time we went to trivia. It was so nice to catch up over a warm bowl of deliciousness.
This week, the best compliment I received was from the principal at one of my coaching schools. I was meeting with him to talk about what goals he had for this year for the school and for the teachers I’ll be coaching. During our conversation he stopped and looked at me to ask, “Where did you learn Spanish?”
“I studied it in school.”
“Are your parents Latino? Do they speak with you?”
“Nope I’m the only one in my family that speaks Spanish.”
“Wow, you speak it really well for a white girl.”
The best new recipe experiment was making vegan cheese in my new dehydrator! My hope is to totally veganize the appetizers at Christmas this year. I’ve secretly veganized everything except for the baked brie, but that’s my mission this year! The first test was pretty good, I think. I ran the cheese in the dehydrator for 24 hours and then aged it in the refrigerator for another 24. What I learned was that I should take it OUT of the springform after about 12 hours in order for the outside to age as well.
My weekend was pretty low-key. It POURED all day Saturday so I spent most of the day inside. Except when I tried to run in the lull between spurts of lightning. But the best thing I did was head up to Highland Park to spend an afternoon with my mom and Frizzle. Frizzle had been sick and needed to go to the vet, but was feeling much better when I got there. Enough to be jumping up on the couch and bringing me toys. She’s gotten SO BIG! I remember when I was able to hold her.
Hope you all had a great week! Here’s to hoping for a few Cubs wins, sunshine, and easy classroom visits for me. I’ll be starting up again with a more structured running and fitness plan, with a couple of fun events during the week. What are you looking forward to this week? Leave a comment below!
Happy running,
Becca
I love the compliment, haha! I am looking forward to joining a gym! I have been meaning to for a long time, but that’s what is on my checklist this week! 🙂
The older I get, the more I realize I appreciate mundane weeks. The ramen bowl looks delicious and the trivia night sounds like a lot of fun. I see you recently completed a 50k. What will be you training for next? Thanks for linking with us on the Weekly Wrap!
That ramen dish is looking delicious! I love to try out new restaurants. Sounds like you’ve had an enjoyable time with your off season. I’m tapering right now and I’m pretty sure I’m going to drive myself crazy trying to minimize my workouts….and I’m not one to usually get the taper crazies.
That’s a really nice compliment!
It’s nice to be unstructured — sometimes!
We’re having a little getaway for our anniversary this weekend. Although it’s kind of complicated, actually. Taking the dogs, also visiting my parents and staying with them with the dogs — it makes life interesting, anyway.
I can’t believe it is the middle of October either! This year is flying by! How do you make vegan cheese? Are they nuts? I wish I new Spanish. No one in my family knows that either.
I’m experimenting with the cheese, but this recipe was GREAT! I combined soaked cashews, the aquafaba from a can of chickpeas, salt and coconut oil – pulsed it in a food processor until smooth. Then put it in the spring form mold and let it run in a dehydrator for 24 hours, then in the fridge for 24+ hours. If you don’t have a dehydrator, I think you could put it in the oven on warm (~95 degrees), but I haven’t tried that.