Hey friends – I’m so glad you enjoyed the day in the life of a dietitian blogger post yesterday! I always have fun writing those. 🙂 As for today, I’ve got some randomness for you to kick off the weekend – here are some of my faves/highlights from this week! Also, in case you missed it and are doing some online shopping this weekend – check out my holiday gift guide for runners, fitness fans, and foodies. 🙂
1) Burgers!
I’ve had two burgers this week and they were wildly different but equally delicious. First up was on Monday night – Matt and I went out to Citizen Burger Bar in Clarendon with our friend Ted who was visiting. I got a grass fed beef burger with a truffled brioche bun (omg), mushrooms, onion, pickles, cheddar cheese, a fried egg (so good on burgers), and ketchup and yellow mustard. Plus sweet potato fries, because they are awesome! The burger was insane in the best way possible, and perfect except for the onion, which was massive and not in small caramelized pieces like I thought it would be.
My second burger was at a lunch meeting yesterday – I had the vegetarian “inside-out” quinoa burger at True Food Kitchen in the Mosaic District! The “bun” is made from quinoa, breadcrumbs, and egg – so smart! It’s a bit crumbly so it’s a fork and knife operation, but so good. The inside is hummus, avocado, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, feta, and onion with a yogurt sauce. Mmmmm… I love their garlicky kale salad and sweet potato hash, too!
2) Runs with good friends.
My buddy Sokphal and I started the week with a run early on Monday morning, and had the pleasure of greeting the sunrise via our running shoes. Nothing quite like a sunrise run – starting in the dark is always worth the payoff.
We were speedy, too – excited that some of my speed is starting to make a comeback finally post-Marine Corps Marathon! It always takes awhile for my legs to get their “spring” back. 🙂
Apparently I book-ended the week with runs because my only other run of the week was this morning (Friday)! I took the morning off from work (hence the late afternoon blog post – it’s been a busy week, and self-care is important!) and slept in and then met my friend Karen for a run around 9:30 in Georgetown. It was cold but lovely to catch up with her, as always. 🙂
I was rocking a new fave outfit gifted to me by my friends at Brooks as part of my ambassadorship – the Threshold Running Tights + Threshold Long Sleeve. (affiliate links.) Both are super cozy and warm but lightweight, too! It was in the low 30’s and sunny and I was perfect – I just had a tech tee on under the top. You will be seeing these featured often this winter!
I forgot to wear my watch but we ran about 4 miles I think. 🙂
3) Strength training.
Although I’ll always love a good run date, I’ve been taking a break from official “training” (aka track workouts and long runs) and it feels pretty amazing. I feel like after most of my races I’ve dialed my mileage back down but gotten right back into the track and my usual schedule. It feels good to really mix it up and incorporate more strength this time. I think I’ll take the rest of the “year” (aka month) off from the track and come back strong in the new year!
It also feels good to actually PUSH myself in boot camps/strength classes – for what feels like years in all my boot camps it seems like I’ve always been holding back because I didn’t want to be sore for a long run, or to potentially injure myself before a race. Chelsea and I went to a great strength class (very CrossFit-ish but without the power lifting – so basically my favorite parts of CrossFit) at Madbolic in Arlington yesterday morning via ClassPass (<- affiliate link for $30 off) – our second boot camp this week! LOVING it. We decided we’re going to start doing two strength/boot camp classes per week together now instead of two – one in DC with our friend Kathleen and another either back in DC or in VA on our own. I’m so excited! I always love our workout dates. 🙂
4) Colorful salads.
We had some salad leftover from the epic feast that Matt and his friend Ted made for us on Tuesday night, so I enjoyed the rest for lunch on Wednesday while working from home. I loved how colorful it was! Avocado + peppers + apple + dried cranberries + onion + spinach + mushrooms + feta + some leftover chicken. Yummm. I ended up adding some shelled pistachios to the mix after I took this picture, too – added a nice extra crunch! Also – I’d forgotten how awesome apple is in salad. Must do that more often!
5) Some posts I loved from around the web this week:
- Crunchy Almond Butter Truffles – omg
- The Ugly Sweater Christmas Cookie – such a fun idea!
- Self Care During the Holidays – great post
- Enjoy the Holidays with Less Stress – sensing a theme here? yay for self care!
Have a great weekend guys – stay warm and cozy. 🙂
What are some of your faves/highlights from this week?
