If your lunchtime salad looked like that, wouldn’t you be pretty excited too?
I’ll divulge what’s in the mix in a second, but let’s back up a bit. We haven’t talked about workouts at all this week, and they definitely deserve a mention as I head into peak marathon training season! After an unexpected rest day on Monday, I knew I needed to be ready to hit the gym Tuesday morning. I had a six-mile speed session on the agenda for the day, but knew before I even got on the treadmill that it was going to be a rough workout. It was.
I struggled through a five mile speed workout…I hit the “Stop” button not once but TWICE during the workout, which I absolutely hate. Restarting the treadmill makes me feel like I’ve made no progress at all. Anyone else? After finish hitting that coveted 5.0 mark, I finished off the morning with a 10-minute lower ab circuit workout. Rough but I made it!
Yesterday morning was much better! I jumped on the elliptical for 20 minutes and then completed three rounds of this plyometrics/leg circuit…
- 30 squats with exercise ball
- 15 flying lunges
- 30 sec. wall sit
- 30 step-ups
- 30 box jumps
- 30 sec. high knees
- 15 lunges to front kick (both legs)
In between each circuit, I completed a two-minute plank workout that looked like this: (I did each exercise for 20 sec.)
- Plank jacks
- Reptile jacks
- Straight arm plank
- Elbow plank
- Up-downs
- Knee to elbow (alternating legs)
After I had finished three rounds of the above circuits, I hopped on the treadmill for ten minutes of incline walking/jogging. I set the incline at 10 and alternated speeds between 4.0 (fast walking) and 5.0 (jogging). Bam! I hit a lot of different machines, got in a lot of different exercises, and really enjoyed my time away from straight running!
This morning, it was back to the gym for a run. I’m increasing my mid-week mileage, so I had seven miles on the agenda today, which looked like this…
- Miles 0-2: 7.0
- Mile 2-3: 7.1
- Mile 3-4: 7.2
- Miles 4-6: 7.3
- Mile 6-7: 7.0
I finished in about 58:30, which isn’t bad for a seven miler. (Just over 8:30/mile) It felt pretty easy overall and nothing like Tuesday’s five miler. Crazy how that can happen!
Okay, did you skip all that just so you could get to the goods about that amazing salad? I don’t blame you. Here’s what was in the mix:
- Romaine lettuce
- Shredded red cabbage (I picked this up on a whim at the store the other day, and I really enjoyed it! It added some good crunch and didn’t alter the flavor much.)
- Chopped red onion
- Yellow pepper
- Cucumbers
- Deli turkey
- Sliced almonds (I had sunflower seeds yesterday which were also good!)
I topped it off with some Trader Joe’s Fat-Free Balsamic Vinaigrette and crushed two crisp & light Wasa crisps over top. (I love how they’re like 25 calories each!) Delicious!
Did you look forward to your lunchtime today? What did you enjoy?
