This morning I was up and straight to the gym for a pyramid treadmill workout. I’d been looking forward to another run in my new shoes, and I wanted to get in a refreshing 3 miles (still my limit these days) before work. The pyramid workout went like this:

set treadmill at 1% incline
5 minutes warm-up (I ran set the speed at 6.0)
1 minute hard, 1 minute recovery
2 minutes hard, 1 minute recovery
3 minutes hard, 1 minute recovery
4 minutes hard, 1 minute recovery
And then back down the pyramid ending with a few minutes cool down.

All in all, I went 3.3 miles in 30 minutes – with my hard speed at 7.0-7.2 and my recovery at 6.0. It felt like a good workout but not too intense. If you increased speed more, then you could really amp it up.

After the gym, I replicated the couscous breakfast bake and caramelized bananas breakfast from the other day. I am happy to report that it was equally delicious this time around.

For lunch, I had a meeting at Cafe Latte in St. Paul. If you’ve never been to Cafe Latte before, all I can say is that you should probably go tomorrow. They have salads, soups, sandwiches, pizza, wine, coffee, and – best for last – dessert.

Cafe Latte serves beyond dessert really – it’s more like heaven on a plate. If you have been there, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t been there, you will know tomorrow when you go. Their most popular desserts are turtle cake, cheesecake, and german chocolate. I am a hardcore proponent of the turtle cake – you won’t ever lose with it. Promise.

Although dessert is definitely the highlight, the regular food menu is also great. Here’s my lunch of tuscan white bean soup with a whole wheat roll and turtle cake (obviously).

Other glimpses around the table…salad combo plate of black rice salad/chicken and cheese salad with a mini baguette.

As was to be expected, no one left disappointed. It’s probably a good thing this place is located in St. Paul and not Minneapolis, otherwise there might be a little too much turtle cake in my future.