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August 30, 2016

Two Easy and Fast Dinner Ideas + Marathon Training Update

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Hello my friends! Matt and I made two really easy and fast dinners recently that I thought you guys would like, so I wanted to share!

First up was a lemony mustard dill salmon. It was too hot to eat outside, so please excuse the indoor lighting. 🙂

lemon mustard dill salmon

Making this is really easy. Mix the juice from a whole lemon and a splash of olive oil with a whole bunch of chopped dill in a bowl, then place two salmon filets in the mixture to let them marinate. You can do this in the morning before leaving for work and let them marinate in the fridge all day, or simply do this 30 minutes to 1 hour before dinnertime.

easy lemon dill salmon marinade

When you’re ready to eat, bake the salmon at 400 for 10 to 15 minutes, depending how big they are and how cooked you like your salmon. 🙂 We went for 12 minutes!

baked salmon with lemon dill

Serve with a side of 90 second plain brown rice, the veggie of your choice (we had steam-in-a-bag fresh green beans – so much more delicious than frozen), and an optional sauce if you like! Our sauce was 1/4 cup full fat plain Greek yogurt + 3 tablespoons dijon mustard + the juice from half a lemon + a splash of olive oil and a ton more dill. Yum!

salmon with mustard sauce

Our second easy dinner recently was one of my favorite ways to make grilled chicken more interesting – adding baked beans as a side!

grilled chicken with baked beans

It’s so good together – try it! Especially if the chicken was coated in BBQ sauce before being grilled (or baked, or pan seared).

As for fitness this week, Chelsea and I decided to hit up Urban Athletic Club (via ClassPass <—affiliate link for $20 off) yesterday morning. It had been awhile since we’d been there – felt good to be back! As always, it was a tough but energizing boot camp, made more fun by having a buddy to chat with during it. 🙂

urban athletic club dc georgetown

As for this morning, I was THISCLOSE to turning off my alarm and going back to bed when it went off at 5:55 for my track workout, but when I looked at the weather and saw it was in the low 70’s without a ton of humidity, I changed my mind. And of course I was really glad I did. 🙂

Our coach had us do a ladder workout today – starting high and ending low. We did 6 laps, then 5 laps, then 4 laps, and then an 800. We had 1 to 2 minutes rest in between each set, and the pacing was supposed to be around mid-threshold and steady. I felt pretty good out there today – gorgeous morning! I did a warm up jog and a cool down walk (not included on the watch) so I ended up covering just over 5 miles for the day. Solid workout!

P8300001

The big difference between my training for the Marine Corps Marathon and my training back in 2013 and 2014 for the Richmond Marathon and LA Marathon is that I’m continuing to do speedwork this time. For those first two marathons I got in the miles I was supposed to but most of my runs were the same pace, or at easier/steady paces, and I wasn’t great about doing targeted speedwork or tempo runs. As a result, my speed had really tanked when I tried to get back into shorter runs after the marathons. I’m determined to not do that this time. 🙂

My right leg is still bothering me a little bit but it felt slightly better today. I talked to my coach about it and he thinks given my answers to the questions he asked me that rather than a volume/overuse injury, it’s actually more of a pull or something – he thinks I might have not realized it but almost twisted my ankle at some point on a run and pulled that muscle in my outer right calf area while compensating. (In case you’re curious, questions he asked were whether it hurts more or less as runs go on – it hurts less/seems to warm up as runs go on – and whether when I came up on my toes it bothered me – no, it doesn’t.) So, he wants me to ice it, use the stick on it (easier than a foam roller since it’s in a weird place), and start wearing my compression sleeves for long runs again even though it’s hot. Fingers crossed!

We’re out of town again this weekend, leaving really early Friday morning, so I need to do my long run either tomorrow (Wednesday) morning or Thursday night (I have some early meetings on Thursday so I wouldn’t have time to do it in the morning). Still deciding what makes more sense – we’ll see! Any advice? 🙂 My coach told me to aim for 12 to 16 miles, but to play it by ear depending how I/my leg feel.

Have a great day, my friends!

What’s a recent delicious but really fast and easy dinner you’ve made lately?

- anne
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34 comments
  • Danielle @ Wild Coast Tales
    August 30, 2016 · 11:04AM:
    Those meals look fantastic! I've been doing speed workouts weekly as part of my marathon training - the longer speed intervals are killer! But hopefully beneficial. I've been having problems with a lot of tightness in my right hip and piriformis that was pulling my knee and calf out of alignment too. I went for acupuncture today and the release was immediate! It is still tight and I certainly need to go again but it made a huge difference if you're looking for alternatives to try!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 30, 2016 · 11:43AM:
      Oh wow, that's interesting! I might have to look into that!
      Reply
  • Erika August 30, 2016 · 11:14AM:
    That salmon looks amazing! But I've got a salmon-hater in my house. Could you recommend another type of fish that this would be good with? Thank you!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 30, 2016 · 11:42AM:
      Hmmmm. You could probably try it with any white fish and it would taste good! :) Or, make my Almond Crusted Tilapia - another easy fave!
      Reply
    • Beth August 30, 2016 · 2:23PM:
      I plan to make this with cod. Might try it with shrimp but I'll marinate them right beforehand so the lemon doesn't "cook" the shrimp.
      Reply
      • Anne
        August 30, 2016 · 3:00PM:
        I hope you like it!
        Reply
  • Jill @ RunEatSnap
    August 30, 2016 · 12:36PM:
    Dang now I might have to go get some salmon for dinner! I love to bake it in foil with some pesto on top. Delicious!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 30, 2016 · 12:41PM:
      Yes, me too - Pesto Baked Salmon with veggies FTW!
      Reply
  • Emily August 30, 2016 · 1:49PM:
    Do your long run on Thursday! The weather is going to be GORGEOUS. Tomorrow's supposed to be hot and humid - ugh. I'm putting off Wednesday's bike workout til Thursday (I'm doing the Nation's Tri on 9/11) because it's going to be so nice.
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 30, 2016 · 1:59PM:
      Unfortunately it's looking like tomorrow makes more sense with my work schedule - bummer!
      Reply
  • Jamie Dowd August 30, 2016 · 2:14PM:
    Hi Anne-- Have you tried acupuncture? I have chronic pain in my hips from running/working out and acupuncture is the only thing I've found that helps and actually targets and releases the offending muscles immediately. If you're interested in checking it out, my acupuncturist is amazing and she's also a yoga teacher so she's pretty incredible all around. Check out her website: http://www.bulawellness.com/. Jamie
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 30, 2016 · 3:00PM:
      I tried it a long time ago but just as a quick demo - not a full on session. Might be time to look into it - thanks for sharing the info!
      Reply
  • Britt August 30, 2016 · 2:56PM:
    I am totally going to try that salmon recipe - it looks delish! Quick dinner I've made this week- Turkey BLT's with avocado and plain green yogurt! Just the basics: whole wheat bread, turkey bacon, lettuce, tomato, and I schmear some avocado and a little layer of greek yogurt on it.
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 30, 2016 · 3:00PM:
      Yummmm love BLTs!
      Reply
  • Roadrunner August 30, 2016 · 3:09PM:
    Salmon recipe looks great! And well done on the speed. Will pay off, I'm sure. And suspect you need the distance run: go out and see how it feels -- and take 400 mg of ibuprophin before and after. You need the distance!
    Reply
  • Coco
    August 30, 2016 · 3:35PM:
    chicken with baked beans sounds delicious. Did you make baked beans? my recent fast easy meal was a black bean pasta dish with roasted broccoli and eggplant, mixed with a vegan cheese sauce (tofu, nutritional yeast and tahini). So delicious! I find doing speed training challenging but rewarding, and also keeps me entertained as it switches every couple of minutes. Let's see how it pays off in the race (1/2 M). could you talk about the benefit of having a couch sometimes? I mean why you decided to hire one and which benefits you've seen?
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 30, 2016 · 5:42PM:
      No, just used organic canned baked beans! :) #aintnobodygottimeforthat Regarding the coached track workouts, to be honest I just won't do them on my own, even if I have a plan that calls for them, unless I'm out there with a group and someone making sure I do it. :)
      Reply
  • Stephanie
    August 30, 2016 · 7:06PM:
    I've had what sounds like similar pain in both my inner and outer calf muscle. The pain was never such that it prevented running, but it was definitely sore. I ultimately saw a PT. I just have really tight calf muscles (running distance and speed work make them tighter) and when they pull up on my Achilles I feel pain in my outer and/or inner calf. All seemed to stem from tight calves. I can't roll my calves much due to veins (yay pregnancies!) but tons of stretching (every day multiple times) helped over time. Hope you get some relief soon!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 31, 2016 · 12:10PM:
      Ah, I wouldn't be surprised if my issue was at least somewhat related to tight calves -- good insight here! Thank you! Off to do more stretching...
      Reply
  • Stephanie
    August 30, 2016 · 7:09PM:
    Adding on to my earlier post...also (and this was key) sneakers as much as possible. No flip flops and cute sandals only when necessary (sorry!) The extra support allowed my calves to not work as hard all day when I wasn't running. Make the most of your recovery time. Does that make sense?
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 31, 2016 · 12:10PM:
      You know, I was thinking the other day I wonder if it's flip flops... I do a TON of walking in flip flops, especially on days I work downtown (up to 5 miles usually) - yikes. I bet that's a factor too. Thankfully the weather is getting cooler soon and flip flops will be phased out... I bet that will help!
      Reply
  • Kelli @ Hungry Hobby
    August 30, 2016 · 7:33PM:
    Those meals look delicious! Every time I see baked beans it makes me laugh. Did you know that in certain parts of Asia baked beans are considered a delicacy? A rare treat? My graduate school roommate was from Hong Kong and LOVED baked beans, she couldn't believe she could have them whenever she wanted!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 31, 2016 · 12:09PM:
      No way! That's funny - I had no idea!
      Reply
  • Amy @ Thoroughly Nourished Life
    August 30, 2016 · 7:54PM:
    Whenever you decide to do your long run, I hope you have a great one! I'm glad it's not an over-training problem :) I'll have to try your quick and easy ideas for my fiance - he loves salmon and chicken, and we are huge baked bean lovers! Can't wait to hear about your adventures from the weekend. Happy running!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 31, 2016 · 12:08PM:
      Awesome, I hope you enjoy the "recipes"! :)
      Reply
  • masala girl
    August 30, 2016 · 9:34PM:
    baked beans are the best :) i was the same as you with my WO today! I got home after a busy day, ans sat down/stood up to change THREE TIMES before saying to myself, "if it was a morning class, you'd get up and go. dont overthink it at night!" and i am SO glad i did!
    Reply
    • masala girl
      August 30, 2016 · 9:35PM:
      also, i love the sauce you made!! i'm not a fish person, but i'll have to make it to top something ;) :)
      Reply
    • Anne
      August 31, 2016 · 12:08PM:
      I have a really hard time motivating for workouts at night - too much time to think about it! :) That's a great approach to look at it like the morning - just get up and go!
      Reply
  • Claire
    August 30, 2016 · 10:05PM:
    Hi Anne! Sorry to hear about your leg giving you trouble! I'm a PT and I'd love to hear more about your symptoms- when you started noticing the pain, what movements seem to flare it up, etc. (Maybe you wrote about it in a previous post and I missed it?) Anything I can do to help get you back to pain-free running I would love to do!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 31, 2016 · 12:07PM:
      Thank you so much Claire, that's very kind of you! It started bothering me a few weeks ago -- it usually feels sore when I first start a run but then warms up and feels okay for the rest of the run, but then I feel it later in the day when walking. I don't feel it if I'm standing still and coming up on my toes, but I feel it with push off movements. I'm thinking my coach was right about having tweaked it or something, because since it doesn't get worse as runs progress I don't think it's overtraining related! In awesome news, I got my long run in this morning - I wore compression sleeves and took an ibuprofen before I went - and my leg didn't bother me at all! So hopefully I'm on the mend. :)
      Reply
      • Claire
        August 31, 2016 · 9:38PM:
        I'm glad you're on the mend! hope it stays well- congrats on getting that long run in! :)
        Reply
  • Laura
    August 31, 2016 · 10:39AM:
    Great job staying consistent with the speed this time! I agree, it makes a big difference. Hope your leg continues to hang in there!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 31, 2016 · 12:05PM:
      Thanks Laura!
      Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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anne mauney

I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

When I’m not writing or cooking for fannetastic food, you can find me running, coaching nutrition clients, or on an adventure with my family. Feel free to reach out - I'd love to hear from you!

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