200 Posts and Half Marathon Training

Yay, I’m finally hitting my 200th post. It sure took long enough. I used to be an everyday poster, but the past few months have lagged a bit. But I’ve reached 200 nonetheless!

I’ve seen other people do some fun stuff for their 200th post, but I can’t really think of anything cute or entertaining at the moment. So I will dedicate my 200th post to getting back into running. As I mentioned, I started off by running 3 miles on Monday night and, despite the consistent rain, it felt really good. My body missed it. And I think I had enough of a break where I’m truly ready to get back to it.

So on Tuesday, I drafted a half marathon training plan. Afterall, my half marathon is a very short 5 weeks away. And no, that’s not typically how long I would train for a half, but it’s all I’ve got so I’m making do and praying that my faint muscle memory from the Poconos Marathon may help get me through this. So here’s my schedule:

Yup – it’s pretty tough to see. Here’s the link to the Google spreadsheet. Basically my long Saturday runs will be 9, 11, 12, 8 and then 13.1 on race day. So essentially, I’m praying I can run 9 miles this weekend. 🙂 We’ll soon find out.

On Tuesday after work I forced myself to run a full 5 miles and boy did it hurt. I could not manage to run under a 9 minute mile. I have some major work to do.

After the tough run, I made a quick and easy dinner on the hot plate. Yes, we STILL do not have gas.

No real recipe on this one. I cooked the pasta and then made a sauce with mushrooms, grape tomatoes and peas using chicken broth, white wine, butter, a little lemon juice and some shredded cheese.

I thought it had a nice little kick and was very tasty and filling. I’ll end this post with a few things I learned while in Ireland…

• “Cheers” can be used to say hello, goodbye and thank you.
• Small, compact cars are the optimal choice
• Always carry an umbrella, it can be sunny and bright one minute and downpour the next. And then be sunny and bright again.
• If you don’t want to drink a full pint, simply ask for a “glass” of whatever beer you drink. It’s the same as a half pint. (I’m sure people already know that, but I never knew it.)
• Many people in Ireland were greatly affected by 9/11. On numerous occasions, when people heard we were from NY they began talking about how saddened they were by 9/11 at great length.
• An Irish breakfast typically includes a fried egg, bacon, sausage, a fried tomato and sometimes beans.
• Blood pudding is sometimes included in an Irish breakfast and it consists of  a combination of animal blood, suet, grains, raisins or currants, and spices, which cause the resultant sausage to look either deep purple or black. It’s also not liquidy.
• Potato pancakes are a surprisingly filling meal and quite delicious.
• Ketchup tastes a little off in Ireland – a bit too tomatoey.
• They love cream, butter and full milk…as well as ice cream.
• In some of the bigger cities, the teenagers and college students were often very scantily clad on the weekend. It was kind of shocking.
• Apparently, we witnessed a Gypsy wedding while we were there. We were visiting a church and watched as people filed in dressed like they were ready for Halloween. It was a sight to see.
• When you “buy a round” with people, it means that however many people in your group, is the number of drinks you’ll be having. Ex. If you buy a round for 7 people. Then those 7 people will buy a round back. There is no way of getting out of this. The point: think carefully about the size of your group before buying a round. 🙂

I think that’s all I can come up with for now. I’m already getting nostalgic about our trip and can’t believe it’s really over already. Anyway – have a good Thursday!!