Welcome to Weekly Wrap 21! I’m saying goodbye to March and hello to April with a recap of my Earth Day 50k peak week training. Linking up with Holly and Wendy to bring you Weekly Wrap 21.
March was a great month for me, but I am ready for April. Maybe we will FINALLY have warm weather? Before jumping into my typical weekly wrap, I’m going to recap the month of March and how I did with the mini goals I set at the beginning of the month. The goals revolved around the theme of getting myself to the point of self-employment. They were to host a giveaway, write posts on the Chicago vegan dining and approach 2-3 coffee shops about selling my energy bites. I was a 2.5ish out of 3 for goal completion.
I hosted a giant giveaway of products I received at Expo West, and I also wrote a Chicago-focused post: 5 Vegan Easter Brunch Options. Both were really well received – huge thank you to those that participated in the giveaway and shared my posts with friends! And while I didn’t approach any coffee shops about the energy bites, I did continue to make them for friends and other athletes. Word of mouth works quickly!
For the month of April, my goals are mostly going to focus around getting all my ducks in a row for this budding food business. Attending classes, getting licensed, etc. Well, that and my goal race. Earth Day 50k is now just 3 weeks away! COMMENCE ALL THE FEELINGS. This was peak week, where I ran the most in a week that I will before the race. I’m glad that it coincided with Spring Break so my workload was really light. While the speed run was so-so, I ended the week with back-to-back 25 mile runs and felt GREAT. I am looking forward to tapering down and sharpening my skills for race day.
Monday 3/26
Run: I went to Stair Mondays for the workout, totaling 8.5 easy miles with some stair repeats in the middle.
Other: Since it was Spring Break, we were in the office today. After the stair workout, I ran home to wash up before biking to work. It was a pretty slow day where we chose what projects we wanted to work on over the break. The last time I was in the office was in the winter! I forgot how much I enjoy putting on a podcast and walking around the city at lunch time.
Tuesday 3/27
Run: Met Nez and Nicole for our last winter location speed workout at Fullerton. I planned us a “Fun Fullerton Finale Fartlek!” to celebrate. 3x thru: .25 on, .25 off, .5 on, .25 off , .75 on, .25 off. It was windy and rainy and HARD, but we finished!
Other: After going home to warm up and eat, I went to EDGE to work remote. At noon, I was able to hop in with their strength class to make it an extra hard day. I also experimented with a Mexican polenta bowl in the morning and really liked the savory combo. Get the recipe on Instagram.
Wednesday 3/28
Run: For the second month in a row I joined November Project for their PR Day at Cricket Hill. The purpose is to try and get through as many hill loops as possible, with jumping jacks, burpees and pushups in between ascending and descending the hill. I made it through 9 which tied my previous PR record.
Other: For the last few days my hip has felt “off.” Not in pain or anything, but just tight, a bit warm to the touch, and just a nagging ache. Wednesday, I saw Dr. Ryan to get it looked at. He stretched, poked, rotated, stretched some more and VOILA! I felt like magic. Apparently, I’m not activating my abs correctly so my hip flexors take on most of the work. Hence the soreness. He taught me some exercises to correct this, which I have now been doing daily. He is seriously a magician and I can’t recommend him highly enough.
Thursday 3/29
Run: With my monster weekend on tap, Thursday was a rest day. Instead, I chose Buddha Burn Yoga at Zen (a heated yoga sculpt class). Instead of grabbing my normal heavy weights, I went light and didn’t do as many of the plyometric moves. Even still I was sweating and exhausted at the end.
Other: I just kept it pretty chill for the rest of the day. The bulk of my time was spent on putting together the NEW RECIPE I published on Friday. Sweet potato protein waffles! They are vegan and gluten-free, and each waffle has 12g of protein. They’re perfect before or after a workout – or honestly ANY TIME because you never need an excuse to eat waffles. Especially when sweet potatoes are involved.
Friday 3/30
Run: Jeremy picked me up early and we headed out to Crystal Lake for 25 miles on trails. I planned us a workout that mixed in speed intervals on the trails: 1 hour warm-up, 6x [5min fast, 5 min recovery], 30 minutes easy, 6x [2min fast, 3:30 easy], cool down to total 25. It felt GREAT. Hip was pain free, no issues. The speed felt doable and my legs were not as tired as I expected. We did 2,225 ft of elevation change in 25 miles. Earth Day was 1800ft, so this was much more than that, in fewer miles, and felt manageable. I was PUMPED.
Saturday 3/31
Run: Met Jeremy at Waterfall Glen for another 25 miles. Yes, back-to-back 25 mile runs for peak week! My friend Shelby joined us too and I was SO proud of her for running 20 miles with us, longest she had ever run! It was grey, cloudy, cold, and for a good portion of it raining, but we did it! And we held a sub-9 min pace too! This was a tremendous confidence boost for me, since I have been doubting myself these last few weeks.
Other: I had no time to recover after my run because I had to meet for book club. I mentioned before that we had read Dark Matter
Sunday 4/1
Run: With no time to recover yesterday, I woke up stiff and creaky. I headed on over to Zen for their early hot yoga class. This class is your standard heated “stretchy” type of yoga, no weights involved this time. I needed allllll the hip openers and hamstring stretching today. Said hi to my friend Fran who was in class too.
Other: My family and I went to Park and Field for Easter brunch. They were one of the restaurants I had found during my research for the post on vegan Easter brunch in Chicago. I enjoyed a giant plate of greens, fruits and delicious quinoa cakes. SO GOOD.
Ended this week with 75.5 miles, two strength workouts, and one yoga workout. PEAK WEEK DONE! For the entire month of March, I ran 295 miles! Looking ahead, it’s time to taper! I will reduce my mileage while still maintaining some intensity. Most of my mid-week runs remain the same, but the weekend ones will be MUCH shorter. I’m getting a massage this week to flush out the remaining long run soreness, but the strength and speed work will stay in the schedule. I’ll just have more time on my hands… hopefully that means more recipe posts!
How was your week? Are you a waffle or pancake person? Did you celebrate any holiday this weekend? Stay in touch! Follow me on Instagram or Facebook for more food/fitness related posts.
Happy running,
Becca
Wow that is some serious mileage! Im glad you were able to get your hips feeling better pretty quickly. Those waffles look amazing!
Wow that’s a lot of miles!! Those waffles look amazing too
Holy moly–almost 300 miles this month? I can’t imagine. Where are those trails in Crystal Lake? I’d love to start doing some trail running. I grew up out there but I wasn’t a runner back then.
I think a lot about that question, about going back in time and making a different decision, how would my life have turned out? But I’m happy where I’m at. Still, what if?
Have a great week!
The trails are in Veterans Acres! For such a small park there are a ton of twists and turns – I spent hours there making up different routes.
You are so ready for this race. I’m glad that hip niggle turned out to not be a big deal. Way to go this week!
I’m definitely a waffle person. They’re so easy but they feel fancy. My kids friends rave about my waffles. I literally google ‘best waffle recipe’ and then make whatever pops up.
Hahha, isn’t Google great?
Wow. Back to back 25 milers! Very impressive. Awesome job on your peak week. Nice job on Cricket Hill too. The sweet potato waffles sound delicious. I had both today…just not together. Enjoy your taper. Thanks for linking!
That is a lot of miles in one month! You go girl! I still can’t believe you did two back to back runs that distance. Heck my back to back long runs would only be like 10. I feel so lazy compared to you……..haha. That waffle looks delicious!