It’s a Well-Documented Fact: Pretzels Help You Run Faster

Week of August 14, 2011:

Bike: Thursday and Saturday

Run: Thursday

Yoga: Wednesday, I think (DIY Pajama Yoga)

I think I say this after every week, but this time I really mean it: what an utterly EXHAUSTING week!  Oy.  Yesterday, which was Saturday for crying out loud, I felt so beat down by the week that I was thisclose to bursting into tears.  Postdoc life is hard.  I’m not sure I’m a fan of it.

But the good news is that I had an excellent, excellent speed work-out on the treadmill on Thursday.  This was my sequence of events:

5 min. walking warm-up

5 min. at 9:05/mile (my normal/easy pace)

8:30 at 8:30/mile (the faster pace I’m using this month to keep my treadmill work-outs interesting)

2 min. at 9:05/mile (a running cooldown)

~5 min. walking cooldown

(Stretch!)

It was a terrific work-out!  I felt very strong and confident.  I think it’s all because of the pretzels.  I am completely smitten with these Everything Bagel Pretzels from Rold Gold.  They’ve got the wonderful savory flavor of an everything bagel—a little onion, a little poppyseed—and they pair well with a few slices of Organic Valley cheese for a nice snack after I get home from work.  I’m finding that being outside in 100-degree heat takes a lot out of me, and I usually need a snack after I come inside from it.  On Thursday, I especially needed a snack because I rode my bike to and from work and I decided to squeeze my treadmill work-out into that evening.  So I needed some running fuel, and pretzels (along with cheese and some blueberries) were perfect for the job.

PS  Don’t forget to start thinking about those Speed Demon entries for September 1!