Hi friends!
It was a beautiful morning for a track workout.
I was feeling pretty sluggish this morning when my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m., but these views (and the great company – I met up with my friend Chelsea as usual) helped!
We did:
- 1 mile warm up
- 1 mile sprint the straights, jog the curves
- Two 400’s (aka two fast laps, with a short break in between)
- 1 mile sprint the straights, jog the curves
- 1/2 mile cool down
Despite not feeling super energized this morning (I’m sure the cocktails I had last night with friends at True Food Kitchen didn’t help, but worth it), we kept a good pace!
- Mile 1: 8:52
- Mile 2: 8:02
- Mile 3: 7:54
- Mile 4: 8:20
When I got home, I made myself a much needed double latte and then fried up some eggs for a little Ezekial toast + avocado + sliced tomato tastiness. So good!
On the lunch front this week, I made a big thing of quinoa earlier in the week so I’ve been enjoying various quinoa salads. One day I did quinoa, greens, and tuna salad (tuna + homemade balsamic vinaigrette) and yesterday I did the same thing but minus tuna and plus chickpeas (and various veggies). Hit the spot!
I also put some of our From the Farmer apples to good use by making an old favorite of mine: Baked Apple Cinnamon Oat Bars (<—click for recipe).
These are SO good, and make an awesome healthy snack or easy breakfast. They are great on their own but I also like them with plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. Try them!
Before I go today, I wanted to share some love for the cool Brooks Heritage line of shoes and apparel. Have you guys heard of it? The Heritage Collection is a running footwear line that has been curated to honor and celebrate the history, heritage, and spirit of Brooks Running Company. When my fellow Run Happy Ambassadors and I were in Seattle this spring with Brooks, a bunch of the employees were wearing really cool-looking vintage shoes around the office. “Those aren’t Brooks, are they?!” we asked. Well, yes, apparently they were!
Since we were so excited about the Heritage collection, Brooks sent all of us a pair of their Chariot shoes, which is a throwback to their award winning shoes from the 1980’s with the same name. In 1982, Runner’s World called them “Possibly the best running shoe ever made by Brooks,” and they were one of the most-worn running shoes in the ‘80s, so it was a natural choice to add into their throwback collection. The rejuvenated award winner delivers all of the original features combined with updated style for a vintage look with modern appeal. While it pays tribute to its original design, it’s not made to be a performance running shoe – just a way to look cool while you’re not running, legwarmers optional.
The other Run Happy bloggers and I were lucky enough to do a Google hangout with Shane Downey, the Brooks Heritage Creative Director, last month, and I loved hearing more about what goes into the development of this line. It launched 18 months ago with shoes from the 1970’s Brooks collection (the Vantage and Vanguard), and has been making its way forward in time – in spring, a shoe from the 1990s will launch (the Fusion). For the shoes from the 70’s, they recreated them from old catalogues and images because there were no templates saved.
Even the packaging is a modern take on the original box. Cool!
I’ve been rocking the shoes with jeans and yoga pants, but they also look cute with shorts. Love the vintage style! You can see all of the women’s heritage collection shoes here, and the men’s here. I especially love all the colors for the Vanguard. You can also find the Heritage collection at Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and Athleta.
And now – back to work! I’ll be back tomorrow with a recipe before heading out of town with Matt for a fun 2 year anniversary trip. Good luck to those of you running the Army Ten Miler (sad to miss it – here’s my 2012 Army 10 Miler race recap) and the Chicago Marathon this weekend! The Brooks bloggers and I had a fun Google hangout date with Brooks’ sponsored runners Amy Hastings and Bobby Curtis earlier this week, who are both gearing up for the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, and plan to run it really, really fast (you know, with a 5: in front of their mile splits). We asked them their best tips for pushing through when running gets really tough, and Amy said: “When going through a bad mile, know that you are due for a good one next.” So true, both in life, and in running! I also loved a tip from Bobby, who shared with us the advice he received from his college coach: “Keep your training al dente.” Meaning, don’t overdo it! I’ll be cheering both of them on this weekend –hope they crush it, and you do, too, whether you’re racing or just out for fun!
