Category Archives: Running

No Time for Slacking!

Posted on April 19, 2010 | 12 comments

Good morning all – hope your Monday started off well! I’ve been such a poor blogger on the weekends as of late. But for some reason, I’ve really been cherishing the chance to just unplug and relax a bit. It might be because on the exercise and training side of things I am not unplugged or relaxed at all – far from it.

Before I get into my weekend recap, I want to say good luck to all those Boston Marathon runners! I can only imagine the adrenaline and nerves they’ve got going on right now. Just thinking about it makes my stomach churn a bit. Hopefully someday I’ll be running that race as a qualified runner.

Which leads me to this past weekend. I didn’t take many food pics, but I did get in some running (although a bit reluctantly).

On Friday after work I was plain exhausted and running was the furthest thing from my mind. I had planned to do a short 4-5 miles, but instead I went home, relaxed and was asleep by 10:30 p.m. Exhaustion.

Saturday morning I was up and out for my run around 9:00 a.m. – I wee bit later than usual. But I only had 12 miles on the agenda, so my late start wasn’t a big deal. I started off and was trying to decide how fast to run when it just clicked all of a sudden that this was no time for slacking! I needed to be working hard! Here are my stats from that run:

Mile 1 – 9:25
Mile 2 – 6:55 (this is clearly wrong)
Mile 3 – 8:32 (that seems like a more accurate pace to me)
Mile 4 – 7:57
Mile 5 – 8:05
Mile 6 – 8:23
Mile 7 – 7:56
Mile 8 – 8:08
Mile 9 – 7:59
Mile 10 – 8:01
Mile 11 – 8:28
Mile 12 – 8:19
.43 – 3:26

Total mileage – 12.43 miles in 1:41:40. Average pace was 8:10 minute miles.

I felt pretty good after this run. My second mile was definitely a glitch by Garmin because I physically Can NOT run at that speed. But anyway – I felt better after getting that run done.

The rest of Saturday was good, if perhaps a bit lazy. We may have even ordered in dinner. 🙂

On Sunday, Hubby and I got up late – I think almost 10:00 a.m. for me. We chilled a bit and then set to work on cleaning the apartment. It somehow manages to get dirty really quickly. I blame it on the dirty city we live in.

How often do you do a general overhaul cleaning of your place?

As we neared the end of our cleaning, I debated whether I should go for a run. I still had about 4.5 miles I was supposed to get in for training to meet mile 35 mile quota for the week. I hemmed and I hawed, and then I finally told myself to shut up and GO because…yup – you guessed it:  It’s no time to be slacking! I gave myself a good kick in the pants, reminded myself that taking it easy wasn’t going to get me any closer to Boston in 2011. So I threw on my running gear and headed out. Here are my stats from that run:

Mile 1 – 8:07
Mile 2 – 8:04
Mile 3 – 8:10
Mile 4 – 7:51
.56 – 4:52

Total mileage – 4.56 miles in 37:06. Average pace – 8:08 minute miles

As you may imagine, I felt very happy after getting this run done.

How do you motivate yourself when your slacker side starts creeping in?

I also kept reminding myself all weekend, every time I thought about bailing on a run, that some really great runners would be running the Boston Marathon in two days or the very next day. That was some good motivation.

And, just when you thought at my slacking ways were gone. We come to Monday morning. I’m having dinner with a friend tonight and I really wanted to get my run in this morning. But let’s call a spade a spade – I am NOT a morning runner. I even emailed two running buddies last week kind of begging them to run with me this morning so I wouldn’t have an out. Alas, they were both busy. So…did I go?

.
.
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Sure did!! I dragged myself out of bed at 5:10 a.m. for a solo run (and this after Murphy woke me up at midnight, 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.). Here are my stats from my morning run:

Mile 1 – 8:58
Mile 2 – 8:23
Mile 3 – 8:48
Mile 4 – 8:56
Mile 5 – 8:41

Total mileage – 5.02 in 44:00. Average pace – 8:46 minute miles.  

It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t particularly fun, but it is done! And I’m hoping that by powering through these recent runs, I’ve taught my slacker alter ego a lesson and will be able to keep her at bay until May 16!!

Have a great Marathon Monday all!

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The Furminator and Zombies…Sounds Scary

Posted on April 15, 2010 | 12 comments

Yay it’s Thursday! This week is almost over. I was supposed to get up and run this morning before work, since we have a happy hour planned for after work, but it just did not happen. Maybe I need to take a rest day.

My hump day yesterday was busy, but good. Breakfast started out with a bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with skim milk and strawberries, and a side of light cranberry juice.

My mid-morning snack was four clementines. They did not keep me satisfied for long. For lunch I had some burrito bowl leftovers – so good.

My afternoon snacks included another non-Chobani yogurt, but one which was much more satisfying and truly “all natural.”

I give Brown Cow a very good rating. It was tasty, but maybe not as thick and creamy as Chobani. But still a winner in my book and way better than Yoplait. Ingredients in this yogurt: Cultured Pasteurized Nonfat Milk. Contains Five Live Active Cultures: S.Thermophilus, L.Bulgaricus, L.Acidophilus, Bifidus And L.Casei.

Much better. I wish I’d bought more of this brand and less of Yoplait.

My late afternoon snack was a peanut butter and jelly Larabar – fuel for some running.

After work I headed home and reluctantly put on my running gear. I was still feeling a little nervous after my IT band pain on Tuesday. Would a 5-mile run help or hurt?

I headed to the East River promenade and did a somewhat easy run.

Mile 1 – 8:34
Mile 2 – 8:29
Mile 3 – 8:37
Mile 4 – 8:38
Mile 5 – 8:32
.28 – 2:21

Total mileage – 5.28 miles in 45:13. Average pace – 8:34 minute miles.

I actually wish I had slowed it down even more – maybe to 9:00 minute miles. It’s just so hard for me when I’m running around other people. I don’t like to follow too close behind another runner, or have another runner on my heels, so I tend to speed up rather than slow down.

I felt a few twinges in my hip area here and there while running, but didn’t feel too bad after my run. I stretched again, but not nearly as much as I did on Tuesday night and I think that was a problem. I did wake up with a very dull and minor pain in my hip/leg. I need to stretch like crazy from now on. Like I said, today is going to be a full rest day for me and then we’ll see if I work in a run tomorrow or just hold off till my 12 miler on Saturday.   

After my run, I made a very quick and easy dinner – a fried egg with cheese on an Arnold Thin Sandwich with carrots and hummus. BTW – Hubby says that I am obsessed with fried eggs now that I know how to make them…and I kind of am. 🙂

Loving that dill-flavored hummus too.

Then I made a small dessert:

I actually couldn’t eat all of the peanut butter and chocolate chips for some reason – maybe too full or I just wasn’t in the mood for it.

Hubby and I also watched “Zombieland” last night. I think we both approached the movie with less than high expectations and me with some trepidation. But despite a lot of blood and guts in the beginning, it really wasn’t half bad. It was very funny in some parts and I loved all of the actors in it. It was short and over before I knew it. I would definitely say to give this movie a chance, it’s unexpected entertainment.

More unexpected entertainment is the book I’m reading: The Year of Living Biblically. I think people see me reading this on the subway and think I’m a big Jesus worshipper or a little bit crazy (the cover is kind of crazy looking), but I promise you, this book is not trying to convert anyone or anything like that. It is truly hysterical. I’m moving through it pretty quickly, so hopefully I’ll have a full review soon.  

And since my parents pointed out that their grandkitty Mr. Murphy hasn’t been featured on my blog lately, this little shot is for them:

He was just chillin – hanging out with his Daddy and obviously having a good time. Doesn’t his fur look particularly shiny and clean? Why, you ask? Cuz we’ve been furminating him all the time. That’ right, we bought a product called “The Furminator” and it’s pretty good. It’s supposedly removes hair from your pet’s undercoat as well as top coat. When I use this thing on him giant globs of hair come off. And he’s gotten better about tolerating it. We bought one for my parents to use on their cats and the one cat absolutely LOVES it. If you have pets (cats or dogs) that shed, you should check this thing out. The demos on the website are pretty incredible. Do you brush your pets? Do they like it? Like I said, Murphy usually tolerates it for a while, but I think he’s kind of getting used to the Furminator.

That’s all for now folks – hope you have a good Thursday.

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Posted in Books, Reviews, Running, Uncategorized

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Yucky Yogurt and IT Band Issues

Posted on April 14, 2010 | 15 comments

Good morning. Happy Hump Day. My week seems to be moving by slowly. I am very much looking forward to the weekend and possibly even sleeping in on Sunday!

But first, my Tuesday recap. For breakfast I had some delicious oatmeal with banana in an almost-bare peanut butter jar. Yay for oats in a jar!!

Early morning snack was a granola bar and then lunch could not come soon enough. I was so hungry. I had sliced chicken breast with two slices of american cheese and mustard on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. And three pickles on the side. These were the leftover pickles from last week’s jar-breaking in the fridge catastrophe, so I figured it was time to eat them.

For my first afternoon snack I tried Yoplait’s new Greek yogurt. Apparently, there was a raid on Price Chopper in Whitesboro this weekend and all the thieves stole was Chobani yogurt. Seriously, the shelves were absolutely bare! So, I tried to make do with a few other kinds of Greek yogurt, Yoplait being one of them. I added some Kashi Go Lean cereal to this yogurt and gave it a whirl:

Decision: This yogurt was less than stellar. It is not nearly as thick and creamy as Chobani and it had kind of a weird taste. Not only that, but this yogurt is not all natural. The ingredients include: CULTURED PASTEURIZED GRADE A NONFAT MILK, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SUGAR, STRAWBERRY PUREE, KOSHER GELATIN, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, COLORED WITH BEET JUICE CONCENTRATE, CALCIUM CHLORIDE, , VITAMIN A ACETATE, VITAMIN D3.

So all the ingredients highlighted in red made me suspicious. For the first one: milk protein concentrate, I found this info almost immediately:

“Milk Protein Concentrate (MPC) sounds OK, but how would it look if we saw the word “glue” on our food and beverage labels? MPC is legal for glue and for industrial uses, but it has never been approved for human consumption. Why then does the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permit MPC use in any food or beverage without first having this unapproved ingredient tested for safety and nutrition as required by law under federal “Generally Regarded As Safe”(GRAS) status?” from www.farmdefenders.org.

Yuck – did I really eat that?! I dug a little deeper and found that  New York Senator Chuck Schumer introduced a bill back in 2009 that would levy higher tariffs on imports of  MPCs. The dried dairy product is used in many processed foods in the United States because it’s cheaper than domestically-produced dried milk powder.

Bleck!!

Next on the list: Kosher Gelatin – sounds yummy doesn’t it? Well, Kosher gelatin can be made from fish bones, beef, Japanese insinglass, agar agar, carrageenan, and Irish moss, according to The Vegetarian Resource Group. Double ewww and gag!!

I’m a little rusty in the periodic tables, so I googled Calcium Chloride next and Wikipedia told me this:

Calcium chloride, CaCl2, is a salt and the compound of calcium and chlorine. It behaves as a typical ionic halide, and is solid at room temperature. It has several common applications such as brine for refrigeration plants, ice and dust control on roads, and in concrete. The anhydrous salt is also widely used as a desiccant, where it will absorb so much water that it will eventually dissolve in its own crystal lattice water. It can be produced directly from limestone, but large amounts are also produced as a by-product of the Solvay process.”

Oh yum – this yogurt is really sounding tasty now, right? Widely used as a desiccant – delish!

So next is Vitamin A Acetate. I had a hard time finding info on this vitamin additive. My searches kept bringing up facial beauty products and information about retinol. I’m going to continue searching, but in the meantime, maybe I should be rubbing the yogurt on my face instead of eating it?

Anyway – I bought one more container of this yogurt and part of me doesn’t even want to eat it, but I also don’t want to waste food either. Tough call.

After work I set out for my 8 mile run, fueled by all the really great and inspiring comments posted yesterday (thanks all – you’re the best!). Everything was going really well until about 3 miles in when my left side thigh area really started hurting. I trudged on and finished my 8 miles, but the pain in my leg was searing from my butt all through my upper thigh afterwards. Here are my stats from the run:

Mile 1 – 9:14
Mile 2 – 7:58
Mile 3 – 8:30
Mile 4 – 8:26
Mile 5 – 8:02
Mile 6 – 7:55
Mile 7 – 7:52
Mile 8 – 8:50

Total mileage 8.01 miles in 1:06:43. Average pace – 8:19 minute mile.

I was definitely pushing myself a little bit harder than I probably should have, especially after my 20-mile run on Saturday. But I so wanted to prove to myself that I could run harder without any issues.

I guess that was not true last night. When I got home, I tried to stretch every way possible to help with the pain and then finally it dawned on me that perhaps this was IT band related. I’ve heard so, so many runners mentioning IT band pain, I needed to check it out.

And all my searching told me that it likely was related to my IT band. I wasn’t experiencing any knee pain, but the pain from my butt throughout my upper thigh sounded like one of the symptoms of an IT band issue. I then searched for many different stretches and happened upon Megan’s post about her IT band stretches (including awesome how-to photos). So I spent a solid 20-3o minutes throughout the night doing her stretches. Hubby even turned to me later in the evening and told me all I’d been doing since I got home was stretching. Darn right!!

But it must have been IT band related and the stretching worked because my leg feels about 80% better today. I got out of bed very cautiously, waiting for the pain to hit, but it was gone! Hurray. At least now I know the cause and how to stretch it. Plus, I’ve decided to take tonight’s and tomorrow’s runs REALLY slow. Seriously, I am going to force myself.

Have you ever dealt with IT Band issues? Did they ever go away completely or do you just work to keep them under control and at bay as much as possible?

After my run I made us a yummy dinner of chicken, rice, lettuce, a little cheese and salsa in a bowl. I call this dinner a mini “burrito bowl” and it was totally satisfying.

I swear there is some chicken and rice in there….

After dinner I stretched away, vacuumed up gobs of Murphy hair and watched The Biggest Loser. Does anyone else feel like it’s time for Sam to go home? I like the guy and all, but I don’t think he needs to be there anymore. He is totally motivated and has got this – he can do it at home.

So that was my night. Hope you had a nice day yesterday and that Hump Day flies by for you!!

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Dealing with Doubts

Posted on April 13, 2010 | 19 comments

Good morning all. How is your Tuesday going? So far mine is okay. I went to bed at a decent hour last night, so I was able to catch up on some of my sleep. However, Mr. Murphy did try to get me up at 5:00 a.m. this morning, which was not appreciated. I really hate when he decides he wants some attention bright and early in the morning.

Did everyone make it through their Monday okay? Mine was a little tough because I was so exhausted. I started off the day with an easy breakfast because I had zero motivation – Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with almond milk and cranberry juice.

It wasn’t a thrilling breakfast, but it was all I could manage. I trudged through the day still feeling a little bit sore from my 20 mile run on Saturday. I didn’t even change out of my sneakers once I got to work.

Lunch was also less than exciting. It was some Triscuits with Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese and a small bag of carrots.

My afternoon snacks were Chobani yogurt with Kashi Go Lean Cereal and an unphotographed apple.

As the work day came to a close I actually started dreading my run for that evening. I was contemplating moving my 8 mile run up to last night because there was a threat of rain on the radar, but once I got home and changed I knew that 5 miles was going to be my max.

I set out for a run along the East River and hoped my lingering soreness wouldn’t make things too difficult. After a few minutes my legs actually started feeling better – maybe I was working some of the residual tightness out. Here are my stats from the run:

Mile 1 – 8:23
Mile 2 – 8:09
Mile 3 – 8:11
Mile 4 – 8:01
Mile 5 – 8:11

Total mileage – 5.05 miles in 41:20. Average pace was 8:11 minute miles.

I’m glad I forced myself to get out there. I was really thinking about taking another rest day. Hopefully today I can will myself out for my 8 mile run. For some reason, 8-mile mid-week runs have been sounding so daunting as of late. But the truth is, my marathon training schedule isn’t half as intense as some other runners I follow. My highest weekly mileage of my training is scheduled for next week and it’s only 45 miles. I follow this runner, who is tapering now and has 50 miles as part of her taper plan!! Or this runner who crushes long runs left and right, even when she’s NOT training for a marathon.

It leads me to question if I’m doing or have done enough to help push me toward a BQ. I know that each runner is different and that for me, running really high mileage would put a lot of strain on my body (not mention being able to find the time). I’m running more miles this time around than I did for my first marathon training – that is for sure. But I’m nowhere near an average of 55-70 miles a week, like other runners who have qualified for Boston.  

Plus, I was chatting with one of Hubby’s bestfriends this weekend and he told me he has a few friends who participate in triathalons and couldn’t qualify for Boston. Eeek – what makes me think I can come even close to qualify if these tough and toned athletes couldn’t do it?!

As you can tell, I’m having some doubts and starting to get pretty nervous. How do you cope with doubts/nerves about upcoming races or goals you’ve set?

After my run I rolled my legs out a bit with my marathon stick and it felt AMAZING!! Then I made us an easy dinner of pork chops with a side salad on the George Foreman.

A little A-1 sauce on the side. BTW – I love A-1. I could put it on anything, much like ketchup. Mmm soo good!

Then for dessert I ate a pusty.

I’m pretty sure this is an upstate NY dessert. Hubby’s mom picked up some pusties while we were there this weekend and sent two home with us. It’s basically a small custard pie with various fillings. Hubby and I both love the vanilla-filled pusties. I think the name “pusty” sounds kind of weird, but they are really delicious.

Exhaustion began to take over shortly after dinner. I made it until around 9:45 and then called it quits.

I hope you all have a nice Tuesday – hopefully my 8 miler tonight isn’t too painful. Have a good one!

19 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Running, Uncategorized

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20 Miles and a Busy Weekend

Posted on April 12, 2010 | 14 comments

Good morning all! Hope you had a lovely weekend. Mine went by so fast I can hardly recall all we did…but it was a lot. We were all over the place and I barely even saw my Hubby!

Friday night we headed upstate around 7 p.m. and got to my parent’s house by about 10 p.m. We ate some grub (and I may have snacked on some cake) and then I headed to bed since I had my first 20 mile run planned for bright and early Saturday morning. I was pumped because I would have two friends with me for the first 5 miles or so.  Initially, I was supposed to have three friends with me, but one texted on Friday to cancel because she has the flu. So I headed to bed and slept TERRIBLY – nerves I think.

20 Miles!

I was up around 6:45 and began my pre-run ritual. Around 7:00 I received a text from one friend telling me she was too tired and was going to have to skip our run. And then there were two. I finished getting ready and tried texting my last remaining running friend to confirm if she was still game. I texted and called to no avail.

So I began mapping out some potential runs to do on my own just as my last friend showed up at my house. She was supposed to be picking me and driving us to a nearby park to meet our other friend. Turns out she just got back from a trip, didn’t feel well and had lost her phone, so she didn’t get any of my messages. She drove over to tell me that she wouldn’t be able to run.

Sadness!! It finally dawned on me that I would indeed be running my full 20 miles all alone. A little tremor of fear ran through me, but I decided there was no turning back. I gathered my gear, strapped my water belt to my waist and headed out alone. (My mom was too cute – I think she was a little nervous about me going it alone and she told me that she wished she was a runner so she could run part of it with me.)

So for this 20 mile run I had a few things working against me: it was crazy windy and colder than I expected, I was all alone for the whole thing, I didn’t have my ipod, and I mapped a pretty intense route.

I was more than a little nervous starting out. But then I reminded myself that for this long run I wasn’t running part of it as a race, so I could set whatever speed I wanted, and I had just done 18 miles, so really it shouldn’t be too much harder. Right…18 to 20 is easy – haha!

Miraculously, the entire run went pretty smoothly. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and for exhaustion to kick in, but I stayed strong. And let me tell you, there were some pretty insane hills in this run. Here are my stats from the whole thing:

Mile 1 – 8:53
Mile 2 – 8:31
Mile 3 – 8:09
Mile 4 – 10:01 (biggest, steepest, scariest hill of my life)
Mile 5 – 9:08
Mile 6 – 9:00
Mile 7 – 8:43
Mile 8 – 8:49
Mile 9 – 9:09
Mile 10 – 9:10
Mile 11 – 9:02
Mile 12 – 9:08
Mile 13 – 8:52
Mile 14 – 8:40
Mile 15 – 8:54
Mile 16 – 8:33
Mile 17 – 9:37 (hills, hills and more hills)
Mile 18 – 9:48 (and more hills)
Mile 19 – 8:57
Mile 20 – 8:36
.36 – 3:07

Total mileage – 20.36 in 3:02:58. Average page – 8:59 minute miles

And my 20 miler was done! It wasn’t my fastest long run, but I think given the difficulty of this course, I did okay. I made it particularly tough and hill-ridden because I know the Poconos Run for Red Marathon has a bunch of hills, so I need my body to be prepared. Plus, my last long run 21-22 miles next weekend (April 25) will be done primarily in Central Park, which has some hills, but not too many. So yes, in short I tortured myself during this long run in order to be extra ready for my marathon.

All that being said, I was surprised at how decent I felt throughout this run. My waterbelt water supply was more than adequate (I think because it was a lot cooler, so the heat wasn’t taking its toll) and I took one Gu packet between miles 14-15 and it did its job.

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a long run? Maybe you expected it to be tough or you felt lackluster when you began, but great by the finish?

I finished up my run back at my parent’s house and tried to stretch as much as possible. I didn’t have my marathon stick with me, so I was a little sad about that. Oh and I forgot to mention that around mile 5-6 of my run a small skunk ran right across my path. It was a scary moment because I know that healthy skunks typically don’t come out during the day. So I thought this skunk was sick and was probably looking for someone to spray. I stopped dead in my tracks and waited for him to cross the road and then fly by him as fast as possible. Skunk spraying averted!

The rest of my Saturday was crazy busy – no napping after this long run. I ran errands with my mom, then headed to my friend’s house for dinner and finally got back home and to bed around 11 p.m.

Sunday was another busy one. We got up early and headed to Utica for the baptism of Hubby’s best friend’s adorable little daughter. Hubby is actually the Godfather of little Audrey. She was very good throughout the whole baptism – and she’s absolutely gorgeous!

Side note – sorry about the pic-less post, I’ve barely had time to breathe, let alone upload pics.

After the baptism we went to the after-party for a bit and grabbed some food. We got on the road to head back to NYC around 6:30 p.m. – much later than I would have liked. 😦 That meant we got home late, I went to bed late and I’m super exhausted today. Blah!

A very good, but busy weekend. I know that my posts have been very running-centric lately. A few books have made it in here and there, but food has definitely taken a back-seat to running-oriented topics. I think that once I start to taper I might be able to focus more on food, or even just be less running-crazed in my posts. I’m not sure if this happens to other people when they train, but running seems to take over my time, body and my brain. Has this happened to you?

I do want to mention the new book I’m reading though because it has made me laugh out loud MANY times already and I’m only on page 75: The Year of Living Biblically. Hysterical!

Anyway – enough rambling for today. Have a good Monday all!

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April Heat and Stress

Posted on April 8, 2010 | 11 comments

Good morning. Happy Thursday – I can not wait until the weekend! This has been a week of stress and heat, and it has not been fun.

I’m not going to recap what I’ve eaten over the past two days, mostly because I was too frazzled to photograph much of anything.

On Tuesday night I did manage to work in an 8-mile run before the heat hit us. Thank goodness.  Here are my stats from that run:

Mile 1 – 10:01 (I hit every light on the way to the park)
Mile 2 – 8:06
Mile 3 – 8:17
Mile 4 – 8:17
Mile 5 – 8:10
Mile 6 – 8:02
Mile 7 – 8:20
Mile 8 – 9:22

Total mileage – 8.05 in 1:05:04. Average page 8:34 minute miles

Happily, I only had one 8 mile run again this week, so I was glad to have that out of the way. Why? Because then Wednesday began and it was the day from hell.

First, I woke up late because I completely forgot to set my alarm. Thankfully, Murphy frequently pesters me to get up in the morning and for once I was happy he did. He nudged me to get up, I looked at the clock and flew out of bed and rushed to work.

I’ve been a little stressed lately at work and I won’t get into it, except to say that throughout most of the day yesterday I was a stressed out freak. Thankfully, after a 3:00 meeting, I was more at ease. But for the majority of the day I was a nervous wreck and even started breaking out because of it.

Then I left work and was hit in the face with 89 degree weather. I had a 5 mile run on the training schedule, so there was no backing out of it. Let me tell you – it was a doozy. I decided right from the start to take it slow. I managed well until the last mile, which was all uphill. Here are my stats:

Mile 1 –  8:25
Mile 2 – 8:19
Mile 3 – 8:26
Mile 4 – 8:18
Mile 5 – 8:50

Total mileage – 5.09 miles in 43:05. Average pace – 8:27 minute miles.

Holy hotness! Not only that, but when did it become okay for people to smoke pot out in the open on the East River Promenade? It’s starting to get out of control over there. Usually when I head south toward 63rd street I prep myself for it because there are typically 1-2 groups of teenagers out there smoking, but I hadn’t encountered it heading North yet. Well, last night I did. It is the most unpleasant thing in the world to run by the people smoking cigarettes and cigars, but a plume of pot smoke is the worst! I’m sort of tempted to put in a call to our local precinct and ask them to patrol or something. I’m really tired of having to hold my breath when I’m running.

Well, I was certainly dripping after that one. That is one of the things I was really liking about training for a marathon in the Spring – not having to deal with the summer heat. I think the crazy heat is supposed to dissipate a bit for a while after today though. And I’m pretty sure in NYC we hit a new record high for this time of year.

After my run I showered and then listened to Hubby explain the latest co-op drama going on. He’s the co-op president, so people always seem to run to him when they have a problem. Fun times – fabulous day.

I made us a quick, easy dinner of grilled chicken with broccoli and then as I started cleaning up I noticed that one of my pickle jars must have cracked in the fridge because there was pickle juice EVERYWHERE! It was totally disgusting. I spent a long time cleaning up that mess, while attempting to clean up the dinner mess as well. Good lord, I just needed the day to end!

With the day from hell coming to a close, I decided to turn in early and move on to the next day. Do you think I was able to fall asleep? Nope – layed in bed wide awake for at least an hour and half. Great.

But today is a new day and hopefully a better one. To be safe, I’ve decided to run my 5-mile run on the treadmill at the gym tonight. It’s only going to be around 80 degrees, but I could use an easy, cool run. I’ve got my first 20-miler coming up this Saturday, so I won’t beat myself up over choosing the treadmill for once.

Did you brave the heat yesterday for a run? How do you cope when you have a day from hell?

Looking back, I probably should have enjoyed a big glass of wine before bed, that might have made sleeping a little easier. 😉

Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday…and that I do too!

P.S. Forgot to mention that I finally have some new book reviews up:

Angela’s Ashes
The Help

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Another Book Bites the Dust

Posted on April 6, 2010 | 8 comments

Good morning. I am feeling very sluggish today. It could partially be because our office a gazillion degrees right now. It’s really gross and it makes me sleepy.

Yesterday was hot as well, but felt a bit more tolerable. And with the forecast predicting almost 85 degrees tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll be roasting in the office.

Breakfast yesterday was simple and maybe a little boring. Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with almond milk and a side of light cranberry juice.

Lunch came pretty quickly – I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on an Arnold Sandwich Thin.

Then my afternoon snack were Chobani yogurt with Kashi Go Lean and an unpictured apple.

When I left work it was positively gorgeous outside! I was excited for my after-work run. I came home, changed and headed out for a 5 mile run.

Despite the beautiful weather, my legs felt terribly heavy through the entire run. The promenade was windy, which didn’t help, but I just felt like I was moving really slow. Here are my stats from the run:

Mile 1 – 8:30
Mile 2 – 8:13
Mile 3 – 8:21
Mile 4 – 8:13
Mile 5 – 8:23

Total mileage – 5.03 in 41:54. Averaged 8:20 minute miles.

It wasn’t my slowest run lately, but it just felt really difficult. Have you ever had a run like that – where there’s nothing really wrong, you just can’t seem to move any faster?

After my run I came home and threw together a quick quinoa dinner – quinoa with carrots, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), peas, and corn with some light italian dressing drizzled over top.

It was actually really filling and I only ate about half of it. The rest will be lunch for today.

After dinner I watched a little bit of Dancing with the Stars before Hubby came back from the gym and insisted we turn it on basketball. I’m sorry – I just don’t get into this March madness stuff. Instead, I ended up finishing my current book: Sarah’s Key.

I know – flying through these books. I currently have nothing to read! But my mom has promised me the book Cutting for Stone when I’m up there this weekend, so that’s next on the list. I promise book reviews asap!

Hope your week is going well. Do you have any other good book recommendations to share?

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Scotland 10k and 13 Miles Recap

Posted on April 4, 2010 | 8 comments

Happy Easter all! We’re about to head to church right now, but I wanted to do a quick recap of the Scotland 10k Run yesterday and my 13 mile run.

I ate my normal pre-run breakfast – English muffin with peanut butter and banana and a big glass of water. I headed out of the house around 9:15 a.m. to get to the start on the west side around 65th street. Last week’s 15k race was surprisingly calm and uncrowded, so when I got to the start area I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of people there. I found my corral, which was a ways back – I was in the 5,000 corral and it was packed. I was so far from the start that I could barely hear the starting announcements.

The race started and it took me a solid 10 minutes to actually reach the start. From there it became all about trying to get around people and keep up my pace. I had decided that I wanted to try to race for time, so I was getting frustrated by how trapped I felt.

The first mile flew by. I had never run the reverse route of Central Park, so it was kind of hard to gauge where I was. Mile two and three went by quickly, but then came the big hill. While trying to get around other runners I slightly twisted my ankle, but was able to keep going.

At mile 4 I heard my husband calling to me and saw him on the right side of the course waving and cheering. I was so excited that I sped up a bit.

Mile 5 felt okay, but from 5 to 6 I started feeling some pain. The last .2 of this race seemed to take forever! Once we hit the six mile mark we had to go up a slight hill that felt like a mountain. And finally it was all over!

All in all, it was a decent race for me. I felt like I was running pretty hard and was happy with my final time, which was a personal record (but having never run at 10k before, a PR was guaranteed). Here are my stats from the race and then my additional 6 miles afterwards:

Mile 1 – 7:55
Mile 2 – 7:36
Mile 3 – 7:29
Mile 4 – 7:52
Mile 5 – 7:35
Mile 6 – 7:47
Mile 7 – 11:04 (finished the race and stopped for some gatorade)
Mile 8 – 9:51
Mile 9 – 10:15
Mile 10 – 9:25
Mile 11 – 9:10
Mile 12 – 9:28

Total mileage was 12.01 (plus 1 mile jog to the start for 13 miles) in 1:45:38. Average pace was 8:47 minute mile.

I felt okay during the race, but was exhausted afterwards. My last 6 miles after the race were much slower and really tough. My final time for the Scotland 10k was 48:32 and my average pace was 7:49. Yay to a great PR!!

Ok – we’re off to church. We had a great celebratory dinner last night which I’ll post about either later today or tomorrow. For now – everyone have a great Sunday!

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A Bad April Fool’s Joke

Posted on April 2, 2010 | 24 comments

Good morning all – happy Friday! How are you all today? I’m doing okay – dealing with a little work stress, but trying to figure it out.

So confession time – the Hubby and I played a bad April Fool’s joke yesterday. But for the record, it was totally his idea and plan. I may have posted on Facebook last night that I was “due in October and marathon training was over.” 🙂 Oh and the comments came flying in. Again – totally Bill’s idea, I just went along for the ride. But he made me post it on my FB page because it would be more “believable.”

Some people believed it and others called our April Fool’s bluff. So then Hubby downloads a picture of a positive pregnancy test from Google images and posts it on my page! And then I think more people were on the believing end. Our phones were ringing, we were getting text messages – things were getting crazy.

Finally, at about 10 p.m. I couldn’t take it anymore and I let everyone know the jig was up. The thought of going to bed with that big fat lie circling around was stressing me out and I was terrified I would wake up to my mother calling and screaming at me for not telling her first.

So phew – that joke is done and I don’t know if I’ll ever play another April Fool’s prank again. The things my crazy husband gets me in to. He is pretty darn proud of that joke though.

Did you play any April Fool’s jokes yesterday?

My co-worker also almost got me with the one about the Boston Marathon qualifying times being bumped up by 10 minutes. A momentary wave of panic swept my body and I’m pretty sure I started sweating, but then I screamed out “it’s an April Fool’s right?!!” And yes it is, but she was fooled by it!

Breakfast yesterday was some creamy and delicious oatmeal with banana and peanut butter.

Lunch for Thursday was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on an Arnold Sandwich Thin.

Afternoon snacks were unpictured, but they were Chobani with Kashi Go Lean and a small bag of walnuts and raisins.

After work, but before the Facebook fiasco, I went for a 6 mile run on the East River Promenade. It was much windier than I anticipated. Here are my stats from the run:

Mile 1 – 7:35
Mile 2 – 7:56
Mile 3 – 8:23
Mile 4 – 8:03
Mile 5 – 8:21
Mile 6 – 8:36

Total mileage – 6.04 miles in 49:18. Average pace was 8:09 minute mile.

I was running most of that at a good clip, but not too far off from what pace I’d need to run the entire May marathon. That idea scares me a bit. Can I sustain for that long at that pace?

For any Boston Marathon qualifiers out there – how the heck did you do it?!!

After my run, the Hubby concocted our April Fool’s prank and I made myself a yummy dinner of a fried egg with cheese on an Arnold’s Thin with a side salad.

Then for dessert I had an apple with peanut butter.

I certainly had quite the peanut butter-filled day. It played a role in my breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m sorry, but I just love me some peanut butter!

And that’s all folks! Tomorrow is the Scotland Run 10k race and it’s supposed to be gorgeous out. Yipee!! And I’m going to try to post a few reviews this weekend as well. Have a great Friday and weekend!

24 Comments

Posted in Holidays, NYRR, Running, Uncategorized

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Breaking in My New Sneaks

Posted on April 1, 2010 | 13 comments

Good morning all – happy Thursday! This week is almost over – hurray. My week is flying by – how about yours?

Wednesday morning’s breakfast was a big bowl of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with almond milk and a side of cranberry juice.

On Wednesday morning I decided to move my medium 8-mile run up from Thursday night to Wednesday night, so I planned my lunch accordingly – a.k.a. – no salad (after last week’s miserable run).

So lunch yesterday was some leftover pasta with meat sauce. I needed some carbs to fuel my after-work run.

Then my afternoon snacks included a Chobani yogurt with Kashi Go Lean cereal and an apple pie Larabar.

After work I headed home to change for my run. When I trained for my marathon in October 2009, I went through two pairs of sneakers. About halfway through my training I switched to a new pair, but by the time I actually ran the marathon, I felt like they were pretty worn out.

So for this marathon I bought two pairs again (I wear Asics Gel Cumulus 11 – which is an older model and I’m not sure they are making it anymore – sadness) and decided to wait a little bit longer into my training to switch to the new pair. I started wearing them for the first time on Monday.

For all you marathoners out there – do you “run through” your sneakers quickly? I know it might be all in my head that I need to switch, but for some reason it makes me feel like it helps. Like there’s more spring in my step.

I donned my new sneaks and headed out to Central Park. Here are my stats from the run:

Mile 1 – 8:51
Mile 2 – 8:05
Mile 3 – 7:58
mile 4 – 8:18
Mile 5 – 7:58
mile 6 – 8:08
Mile 7 – 8:12
Mile 8 – 8:47

Total mileage – 8.02 miles in 1:06:30. Average pace – 8:17 minute mile

Not too bad, but I definitely felt a little heavy. Part of me wanted to blame it on my new heavy sneaks that haven’t been worn away at all yet, but more likely it’s probably just me. 🙂

After my run I made Hubby and I some BBQ chicken with a side salad for dinner.

And then for dessert I finished off the strawberries. I’m always so afraid that some fruits will go bad before I have a chance to eat them. And I love strawberries so much that I was not about to let that happen.

They look pretty fabulous right? 🙂 I have to be honest and tell you that I’m totally a “berry girl.” The berries are my favorite fruits – blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. Seriously – I doubt there is a berry out there that I wouldn’t love.

And then there’s the Hubby that is totally anti-berry! How funny right? What about you – are you a berry lover? I might have a slight obsession.

Tonight will be a 6-mile run and then tomorrow is a rest day because I’m running another race this weekend – The Scotland Run 10k on Saturday in Central Park. The good thing  is that I’ve never run a 10k before, so no matter what I’m going to get a PR! I’m trying to decide how fast I want to run this. I have to run a total of 13 miles on Saturday, which means another 7 miles after finishing the race. I may just go all out! I think I’ll decide the day of, based on how I’m feeling. Anyone else in the city running this race?

Alright all – have a great Thursday – tomorrow’s Friday!!

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