Not this Weekend Update, unfortunately:
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First things first: the winner of the Daiya free product voucher is Donna! Donna said:
I think I’m the last vegan on earth who hasn’t had Daiya. I’d like to try the mozz-style and make a pizza with actual “cheese!”
Congratulations, girl! I hope your first experience with Daiya is a great one!
Thank you SO much to everyone who commented. You guys really helped my self-esteem and I’m now super-excited about giveaways and hope to host another one really soon! Actually I’ve already thought up an idea so it won’t be too long in any case…
Anyways, I know it’s only Thursday but I’m getting really excited for the weekend! H and I are travelling to DC to visit my beautiful little sister M, who has promised to take me on a tour of her favorite vegan and veg-friendly establishments.
M and me the last time I visited DC
Sticky Fingers will obviously be involved.
And this is the Cherry Blossom cupcake I got on my last visit and HOLY HELL I still dream about this thing. The crappy bar lighting from Millie & Al’s does it no justice, none.
While M is not vegan, she is lactose intolerant and so obviously avoids many non-vegan foods. Apart from this, though, she has always been extremely open to eating vegan meals. She particularly loves seitan and soy chorizo (a version of which I hear DC-area Chipotles are now serving btw!).
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I think we’ll have a good time, and I hope to take many photos! Most of them will probably end up on Instagram (@acookinthemaking) but if there’s anything particularly awesome perhaps I’ll share it in a recap post next week.
Pile on the Miles update:
Week one went…okay. So far I’ve done 6.3 of my 10 goal miles for the week, but the first 3.2 (on the treadmill because it was COLD and I am weak) did not come easily. A little bit of walking and more than a little pain were involved. All the more reason to stick with it though, right? And then last night I had this incredible outdoor run where I felt awesome and didn’t walk at all and kept up a good (for me) pace the entire time! So who knows. I’m hoping that by week four I’ll be back to being able to run an easy 5K without too many after-effects.
Also, I’m starting to remember why I never lose any weight when running or training for a race. It’s not even one of those things where I run a measly 3 miles and then think I can eat whatever I want because I “earned” it. The real problem is that the day after a run, I don’t feel like doing anything, or I convince myself I “need to rest,” so cross-training always seems to go right out the window. The net effect is that I actually get less total exercise per week, even though my cardio minutes increase.
This is starting to annoy me and I’m working really hard at developing the mental focus to run 3 days a week and do strength training on 2 other days. It really shouldn’t be that hard! I know that I am physically capable of doing this and that I’m not going to die or injure myself. But somehow this irrational fear creeps in and I find an excuse.
This is something I just have to work on. One of those personal barriers that you need to push past in order to grow as a person. We all have them! Identifying it is the first step, I think.
What are your personal barriers? What do you do to try to break through them?
Also, any fun weekend plans?
Let me know in the comments! I’ll be checking in from the road.
A.Cook in the Making 
When I “need to rest” but also “need to stay active,” I do yoga. Try doyogawithme.com for free yoga videos – they have some specific videos for runners.
That’s a great idea–thanks!
I don’t know for sure, but I think all levels of runners have good and bad days! Some days the miles fly by and others I feel every step and am sure my body is falling apart! Good for you for sticking with it!!
Also, I think walk breaks are fine! I took walk breaks for years as a regular part of every run and still take then on trail runs and ultras! What’s important is that you are out there!
Glad to know I’m not the only one whose runs vary so much! I do just try to push through the bad ones and remember that they make the good ones feel that much better 🙂
P.S. – I am SO impressed by anyone that does ultras–that’s awesome!
Thank you! It’s a much slower pace – I almost think it is completely different than regular races!