Hi friends!
Up until today, it’s been hot, hot, hot in DC. Apparently summer has come early! All that heat has left me craving lighter meals. On Monday, I whipped up a Mexican shrimp quinoa dish for me and Matt to enjoy.
The shrimp was marinated in a mixture of lemon and lime juice, garlic, and cilantro, plus a splash of water and a drizzle of olive oil all blended together.
I cooked the shrimp in the marinade and saved a little extra to pour over the dish once it was done, too.
Plus a can of black beans, pumpkin seeds, avocado, and tomato. Delish! This recipe came from a meal prep/planning service that I’ll be doing a review of in a few weeks, so stay tuned.
On the fitness front, yesterday morning was my track workout! I’ve been feeling super sluggish at the track lately so I went to bed SUPER early on Monday night (like, 9:15 early – glorious) in preparation. I’m glad I did because it was a high intensity training day!
Normally at the track lately the coaches have had us doing longer workouts, where we build slowly to speed and the max speed we’re getting to is usually around a 10 miler pace. Well, yesterday was the opposite: short and FAST.
We were doing 800’s, which is 2 laps around the track or 0.5 miles. It’s a tough distance because it’s short enough that you’re basically sprinting but it’s long enough that it’s really hard to keep up that pace! I was really proud of myself because I was hitting speeds I haven’t ever hit, and keeping up with people that I’m normally significantly behind. Guess that extra sleep (and perhaps a change in mindset/being more determined) helped! I started doing each lap in about 1:40ish, and slowly built in speed so that by the end of the workout I was doing laps closer to 1:33. We did five 800’s with about 5 minutes of rest in between each, and then we finished with one 400 (one lap) at max speed – I finished it in exactly 1:30. WHEW!
I was SO tired after but it felt really good to push myself. I was talking to a friend the other day about how the key to getting faster is to remember that it’s not supposed to feel comfortable. I mean clearly it shouldn’t be dangerous/serious injury sort of pain, but running faster is not going to feel easy, and you need to remind yourself that it’s okay for things to be hard sometimes. I was breathing REALLY heavily on these laps and had to really push hard to remind myself not to slow down and do what was more comfortable.
After the track, I refueled with a mini version of my fave wild blueberry protein smoothie and then once I showered and got ready, I had some tart cherry oatmeal topped with pumpkin seeds and coconut. Delicious! I’ll share the oatmeal recipe next week – it only takes 2 minutes in the microwave. 🙂
And now, back to work! I’m working downtown today and looking forward to getting out and about later for a walking break – it’s lovely and much cooler out!
Have a good one, my friends! I’ll leave you with some reading: I loved this recent post from fellow RD Rachael about low body confidence being contagious, and being careful how we choose our words. An important read!
