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Treadmill, Tofu, Thankful on Thursday

Treadmilling It
Today I was still really stuffy, but I felt less like I had been run over by a truck at least. Just the stuffy then runny then stuffy nose with sinus headache to contend with.

I had really planned to go run outside after work. It was supposed to be sunny and about 60 degrees. Then I got it in my head that I wanted to run at lunch, at which time the sun disappeared. I wasn't sure if it was really going to get sunny and warm again or not and was dead set on working out midday. So, I ended up running on the treadmill. I honestly didn't know how long I could go with this congestion going on.

I figured it would be safer and smarter to just go up to the gym and if I could only do a mile, then it's not like I had wasted time driving to the river trails. Plus, if it's allergies, then maybe running outside isn't so smart either.

The plan was to see what I could do with the goal of 4 miles doing some interval speed work, which I've been slacking on big time. I actually hadn't even planned out how I wanted to do the intervals, this is so not like me at all. And it's soooo not like me to be so incredibly off my half marathon training plan. At this point, I don't even want to look at it.

After the first mile at an easy warm-up pace of 9:13 min/mile, I was feeling better than I had expected. So I jumped right into 1/2 mile intervals.

Intervals 1 and 2
1/2 mile at 8:34 min/mile
1/2 mile recovery at 9:31 min/mile

Interval 3
1/2 mile at 8:41 min/mile (was getting pretty fatigued)
1/2 mile recovery at 9:31 min/mile

Interval 4
1/4 mile at 8:41 min/mile
1/4 mile at 9:31 min/mile

I finished out the last half mile at an 8:57 pace to hit an even 5 miles. And while I really don't like to run on the treadmill, I think this ended up being a really smart choice today. It forced me to do intervals as that's the only way I can do more than 3 miles, and because I was done with the workout much faster without having to drive to and from the river trails (won't really run neighborhood solo).

Tofu Thursday
After work I made a quick trip to Target. They had the same curtains I purchased for the spare bathroom remodel on clearance. I wanted to use them for my little gym room. Unfortunately they only had the 84" length and I really needed 95" or longer. Luckily, they had the valances so that covered up the fact that I had to lower the curtains.
Source

Now I just need to get in the gym room and do some major patchwork repair before painting and hanging a wall mirror. When we bought our house, it was sinking in the middle, so we had it leveled. This of course created tons of cracks in the old plaster. We totally ran out of steam in the repair cracks department. So that room is in desperate need of repair.

I did remember to pick up some frozen veggies at least since I've yet to hit the grocery store. I decided to go with an easy tofu stir fry. I was going to use brown rice, but surprise surprise, didn't have enough. I did, however, have some rice noodles at least.
 

I dry-seared the tofu to remove the water as I had not pressed it. I made a marinade for the tofu to also use in the stir fry. I had only a small amount of a pre-made stir fry sauce left, so I used that with low-sodium soy sauce, sriracha chili, OJ, and PB2. I tossed the tofu in the mix and then baked until super firm before adding to the stir fry.

Thankful Thursday
On a serious note, we'll call it Thankful Thursday, a fellow blogger's father had a stroke. She is now on her way across country to be with him, and she's written a great reminder post: Why You Should Always Say I Love You.

This is something that my mom instilled in me and my sister. I never hang up the phone without telling my family that I love them. We say it in our emails, texts, phone calls. No, not bragging or saying I'm somehow better. I still sometimes forget to tell my friends or even my husband just how much they mean to me. Her post reminded me of this today and reminded me to be thankful for my family, my husband, and my friends.


Daily To-Enjoy List
  • Run 
  • Sunshine
  • Warmer temps
  • Easy Dinner

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