Training and Life Update!

Things have been humming along here at the Porath household.

First, a training update, since I’ve been neglecting updates here:

Like I said in my last post, I’ve turned a new leaf and have found “that spark” again. There is NOTHING better than feeling motivated like this, knowing you’re chasing something crazy, and getting after it with a smile on my face. Not going to lie, this winter was pretty tough on me… there were a number of skipped workouts (being totally honest here… I’ve previously NEVER skipped a written workout, ever, so you know things weren’t right), and a whole lot of “I can busy myself with something else today” excuses. I couldn’t for the life of me change my thinking to love the process and WANT the end goal like nothing else.

But, happy to say that I’m having fun training again!

I think it really helps that the weather has turned. Finally, I’m running through puddles instead of running on top of ice and snow in my YakTraks in negative degree weather. Mesa is also enjoying the warmer temps!

Just can’t wait until the trails in the arb are dry and run-able!

The Carleton arb. Ohhh, can’t wait for things to turn green!

Chris has kept my mileage at no higher than 60/week with some cross training thrown in. I’ve done a little XC skiing w/ Craig over his lunch hours, which has resulted in numerous contributions to the “Biff Pot” 🙂 I’ve also re-united with my elliptical in the basement.

I’m thinking I’m going to wheel my elliptical in front of our big TV downstairs (which has a DVD player) so I can watch episodes of Breaking Bad while I work out. Thanks, Jeff, for turning us onto the show… it is so addicting!

I’ll miss my typical first race of the season, the Irish Run 8k, as I’ll be driving down to Indiana w/ Nate and Craig to pace Sharon (TNC athlete) to her first sub 1:30 1/2 marathon. 9 hours of driving… that’s dedication! Good thing I’ll have a Christmas stocking to work on, my computer to work on coaching stuff, and some Runner’s World and Running Times magazines to catch up on!

And also, a good thing we’ll have a Prius to save on gas $$! 🙂

Life updates:

The grocery game:
Interesting meals (i.e. not typical) this week:

Pot Roast… not my favorite, which is why it was in the freezer for so long. I followed Pioneer Woman’s recipe, which was actually great – for pot roast.

There’s one leftover in the fridge, and I’m refusing to eat it (that’s saying something). Anyone want to come over?

Green Bean Casserole, which used 4 cans and one very old bag of frozen beans. It was salty, but surprisingly good. All things are good in moderation, right? Don’t think I’ll be replacing those cans or frozen vegetables, though… fresh for us going forward!

CSA Share!
Nate and I decided to splurge this year and buy a share of our local CSA – Spring Wind Farm. Craig did it last year and loved it.

There’s a U-Pick garden that has a ton of flowers, herbs, and various vegetables throughout the season. I’m pretty sure I’ll get my money’s worth from this! I am SOO excited to have a fresh bouquet of flowers every week! Plus, they will make awesome gifts for others I’m visiting!!

How fun will this be?!?

I’m particularly excited to pick their Basil, as I’d love to make and freeze homemade pesto this year. Buying basil at the store is so expensive!

Not to mention, all of the fun varieties of foods we’ll get. It’ll be fun to come up with meals. Can’t wait!!

Simon turned 1!
Our nephew turned 1 two weeks ago. Being the nerds that we are, Nate and I decided to set up a 529 college fund for him. YEAH, saving!

Devouring that cupcake! Also clearly thinking about his college options 18 years from now.

Coaching:
One particularly fun athlete for me this year was a MN high school freshman who was having a hard time breaking the 16 minute barrier in XC last year. We worked together this off season, and at the end of our time together I had her do several workouts that would allow her to see her improvements. I looked forward to her emails/texts so much… she improved a TON. Here are previous PRs and her new “workout” PRs.

Watch out for her!

4k: 16:01 to 14:59 (!!)
2 mile: 15:19 to 11:20 (my old HS PR!)
1 mile: 6:11 to 5:38
800m: 2:47 to 2:28

WOW! We’re both hoping she can chase down some school records and a spot on the state meet start line this Spring. I can’t wait to see what she’ll be able to do in a race this track season!

Training Retreat:
Later this week I’ll have information on the TNC training retreat which will be held May 16-18. We’ll log a lot of miles, enjoy a lot of great food thanks to RR from The Planted Plate, and a lot of fun conversation!

If you’ve been interested in personal coaching before, but didn’t know if it was for you, the retreat would be a perfect opportunity to try it out. It’s open to both TNC athletes and prospective athletes. Send me an email if you might be interested! [email protected]

That’s all for now, folks! Run happy!!