This week was my peak week of marathon training for the Outer Banks Marathon. You know what else it was the peak week of? Fall colors in Minneapolis! Pictures cannot even capture how gorgeous the Twin Cities are right now. Every day that I drive down my street, I am seriously in awe of how pretty it all is.
These are just a few of the vibrant trees along the river on my long run yesterday. Stunning. This is EVERYWHERE in the Twin Cities right now.
So yes, being peak week of training, it was a full week of running!
Here’s how things turned out at the Right Fits in Fitness this week:
Monday: 8 miles of running in the morning, C2 vinyasa yoga class after work at Corepower Yoga. Can you believe it? I actually made it to yoga. I took Nielle’s class at the Edina studio and it was PACKED full, which also meant the already heated studio was even hotter than normal. I hadn’t taken a hot yoga class in so long that I had to take a lot of breaks, but I still enjoyed the practice. She’s such a great teacher.
Tuesday: Tuesday was my birthday and what better way to celebrate than with a track workout!
The workout was a tough one- about 2 miles to warm-up, 1600 at 5k pace, 400m recovery, 3 miles at tempo pace, 400m recovery, 1600 at 5k pace, and then 2 miles to cool-down for about 9.5 miles total. Whew! We celebrated afterwards with Pizza Luce. Happy birthday to me.
Wednesday: 7.5 miles easy with Matilda.
Thursday: 8 miles with 30 minutes at tempo pace (with Matilda- my tempo pace is still her “You call this running?” pace). After work, I took a 1-hour strength/kettlebells class with Ericka Darst at Balance Fitness. Ericka taught the 10-week strength class I took over the summer at the Calhoun Beach Club, and now she has taken over Sarah’s class at Balance. She is great! Seriously, come check out her class on Thursday nights at 6 pm. You will love it!
Friday: Complete rest day.
Saturday: 22 mile Capitol run! I actually went the wrong way around one of the lakes so I ended up with 22.75 miles. Here’s how we did this- Dustin and I dropped a car off at the capitol in the morning and then came back to the Calhoun Beach Club. From there, we ran 22 miles of the Twin Cities course (separately of course- he’s much faster than me!)
I took a quick selfie with THE bunny around mile 6 of my run. I love this guy.
Though we were both running alone, we did have two very awesome friends who were on the course with Gatorade and water for us. Thank you both SO, SO much! It made the experience so much more enjoyable to have those support stops to look forward to. Even on a cooler day, the fluids made a huge difference. I did run with my fuel belt, but I filled up my bottles at the stops and took my GUs with the water they provided. More than anything, they provided a mental boost that really kept me going.
Dustin made it to the capitol over a 1/2 hour before me and was enjoying some chocolate milk and snacks that we left in a cooler in the car by the time I arrived. Did I mention that Saturday was also our wedding anniversary? Six years! We celebrated the way most couples do…running 22 miles.
Even though I ran alone, this was probably one of my best capitol runs ever. I wish I could pocket up the way that I felt yesterday and save it for race day.
Sunday: 5.5 easy miles with Matilda and Dustin. Gorgeous fall day.
In summary: SIXTY miles of running, 1 yoga class, 1 strength class, and 1 complete rest day. Feeling strong!
So what’s happening in Fitness Fashion at the Right Fits?
I think I have finalized my marathon day outfit- woot, woot!
What I wore for my 22 miler yesterday worked perfectly, so I will wear the exact same thing on race day. I plan to wear these Oiselle roga shorts in “fast red”, this Oiselle Scantron Tank top in turquoise, a trusty Serena sports bra by Moving Comfort, one of my many BIC bands, and my Brooks Ravennas. Outer Banks will be pretty toasty, so I’m not worried about being cold. Fingers crossed that the temps drop a little bit, mmmkay?
That’s it for the week from the Right Fits. I hope you had a wonderful week and enjoyed the “peak” colors outside!
How are the fall colors where you live? Did you do anything fun in fitness or fitness fashion this week? Please share!
The pic with the Cathedral is amazing… looks a little different without all those marathoners in the way.
Thanks for reading and commenting Nathan D.H. Freeburg! You would be amazed by the colors right now in the Twin Cities. I don’t think they have ever been better in my 14 years of living here. Hopefully you are enjoying some of the same in the Pacific Northwest!
Another great post! Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary! 🙂
Thanks Katie! Probably not a traditional celebration for either occasion but it worked 🙂
You’re going to have SO much fun at Outer Banks! I did that race in 2009 and while I unfortunately never finished a race report, I remember it as a good one 🙂
Thanks Laura! I’m excited to see that part of the country and thank you for sending your recap! It sounds like it will be a beautiful course.