A fantastic end to the week! Running recaps, and diet tune ups.

What a week! I managed to log in 55 miles, but the best part of it all *KNOCKS ON EVERYTHING MADE OF WOOD* is that I feel totally fine. 

The first part of the week I was feeling a bit swollen and sluggish. My shorter runs were all in the 10:45 min/mile pace, and they weren't terrible but not the best either. I just felt slow, like my legs were very heavy. The sunrises were all incredible though! 

A foggy run on Tuesday...the fog was like a blanket!

Saturday came and I went out on my 20 mile run. The first ten miles felt unusually good, but as soon as I turned around my heart rate started creeping up. I have to say, I think part of it is mental because it is just weird that exactly at the turn around point is when it starts to go up. The increasingly hot sun was also making my heart rise. Before I had gone out, I drank a cup of decaf coffee with a tablespoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of grass fed unsalted butter. I also brought one of these Pocket Fuels with me. I wish it didn't have added sugar, but it was delicious! They have plenty of other flavors, but I'm a sucker for chocolate.

Honestly, I don't think I even needed to take it. I wasn't hungry at all during the entire run. My regret is not drinking any water. I didn't realize that I needed water really, because I don't sweat much and I don't really crave any water when I'm running this slow. However, while reading Phil Maffetone's Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing, he mentioned that it can really raise the heart rate and cause a plateau or reduction in performance. I THINK this might be an important piece of the puzzle, because I know for sure that I do not drink enough water when I exercise.

When I finished, my Garmin enthusiastically announced that I had a new half marathon record. I was a little surprised! I was tired and my legs were a little sore, but surprisingly not near what they usually are. I rested, then we went grocery shopping and they started to feel better. My feet feel a lot less swollen than they did the week before. I have been cutting back on the amount of dairy I take in, and I really believe that it's helping reduce inflammation.

I drank a lot of water throughout the rest of the day and tried to eat a lot of vegetables. I passed out pretty early, and then woke up bright and early today (Sunday) for my 10 miler this morning.

I was shocked that I actually had to push myself a bit harder in order to reach my heart rate of 149. My legs were fatiguing!!! This is usually a very good sign for me, and I had a feeling it would be a faster than usual run. I stopped twice at water fountains after learning the importance of hydration (haha), but overall my run was pretty quick. I finished, and realized that I had my best 10k time (cutting about 30 seconds off), and my overall average was 10:29 at 149hr. INCREDIBLE! This is only two weeks after my previous 10 miler that I was ecstatic about, that was a 10:44 min mile.

I couldn't be happier with my progress this week. I have an easy week lined up next week, with the "long" runs being 10 miles Saturday and 8 on Sunday. I am curious how my body is going to handle this, and if I will see some faster than usual times this week and next. :)

Some cute birds that I creeped up on.

Okay enough with the run talk, now about the food! I have also improved my diet a lot this week. I had placed a large order with US Wellness Meats, so Jon and I indulged in some grassfed steaks on Wednesday. I think eating organic grass fed meat is important because of the balance of the fatty acids are different than grain fed meats. It includes a lot more of the super healthy Omega 3 fatty acids which balance out the Omega 6 fatty acids. I'm learning that it is very important to have your fatty acids balanced, so having my daily teaspoon of cod liver oil is helping me out there too. I certainly wasn't eating enough before.

My Filet Mignon

But back to the steak. IT WAS SO AMAZING. I got the filet mignon, and I got Jon a ribeye. They weren't cheap, but they were worth every penny. The steak came to us frozen, and I thought that it would really hurt the flavor of the meat. We were WRONG. My steak was sooo buttery, soft, and makes my mouth water just thinking about it. It doesn't hurt that Jon is a great cook. We also included some sautéed mushrooms and greens (spinach and asparagus).

I really liked it.

Another food that I got this week was sauerkraut. I have to admit that I never...actually...TRIED sauerkraut before, because I thought it looked gross. :( I certainly was missing out. This sauerkraut in particular is so good! I'm trying to take in more probiotics, and I think my digestive and immune systems are thanking me. I would be all about having kimchi with my meals, but it really makes my skin (and everything it's near) stink. :P I would like to be a bit adventurous and try making my own sauerkraut soon.

Grassfed beef hotdogs with sauerkraut! MM good!

Jon and I also have been devouring a lot more vegetables than we used to. Our recent Whole Foods trip was kind of ridiculously healthy (also, expensive...). We had about 3 bins of spinach and greens (I'm really digging the Mache blend from Organic Girl), and red peppers, mushrooms, kale, green beans, asparagus, tomatoes, and all sorts of good foods. 

We also just went to the farmer's market today. We found a stand with grass fed beef and organic free range chicken. We got a chicken, a dozen eggs, two rib-eyes, and two filet mignons for under $40 total. The steaks were buy one get one free because they were frozen from December. We also walked away with more veggies that were going for cheap. The trick is to go the hour before they close! One of the vendors even threw in a free bag of organic lettuce mix for us. Jon cleaned up our beets, saved the greens and stems, and I plan on sautéing them later this week!

This week really ended on a high note for me. I have never felt so on the right track before. I feel incredible, and having faster runs is giving me a lot of hope. Jon has been reaping benefits from this as well, even though he still eats pizza, beer, and chocolate. He has trimmed up, and his running has improved dramatically. 

Looking forward to my easy week! More updates to come!