Tag Archives: Running

200 Posts and Half Marathon Training

Posted on September 16, 2010 | 9 comments

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!!

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Posted in Recipes, Running, Travel, Uncategorized, Vacation

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Back from Ireland!

Posted on September 13, 2010 | 8 comments

Well – I’m back from Ireland and it seems like our trip just flew by. I’ve already made it through my first day back to work as well. That went by at light-speed. I have a lot of catching up to do at work and in the blog world.

I won’t bore you with an overwhelming recap of our trip. I’ll just tell you our itinerary and show you some of the highlights. Here’s what our 11 days and 11 nights in Ireland looked like:

Arrived in Dublin and drove to Kilkenny (we stopped at Glendalough on the way). Spent the night in Kilkenny and met my Irish relatives. We explored the city the next day and met the Mayor.

After exploring Kilkenny for a bit, next we stopped at the Rock of Cashel and then drove on to Kinsale. We spent one night in Kinsale and then drove to Cobh for the day.  Cobh was a gorgeous harbor town and well-worth a visit. From there we went to Kenmare. I thought Kenmare was adorable.

We spent one night in Kenmare and then drove the Ring of Kerry early the next morning. We had planned to go on this amazing excursion to Skellig Michael Island, but the weather was too rough for the boats. We explored Valentia Island instead.

From there we finished the Ring and went to Dingle. We spent a gorgeous night in Dingle.

The next day we drove from Dingle to Killarney. We spent two days in Killarney and explored a lot of Killarney National Park.

After two days in Killarney we started to make our way to Galway. We stopped along the way at Bunratty Castle and the Cliffs of Mohr.

We arrived in Galway and had a relaxing night and then explored the city of Galway the next day.

We had a lovely dinner in Galway and then made some friends from Cincinatti.

After Galway, we headed back to Dublin and spent our last two days there doing all the touristy stuff – Dublin Castle, Trinity College and the Book of Kells, Christ Church, St. Patrick’s Church, the historic jail, Guinness Storehouse and even took in a soccer game.

And finally, we spent our last night in Ireland in a castle.

Obviously, this is the extremely abbreviated version of our trip. I think we have about 1,300 photos from three different cameras. I have a lot of organization and sorting to do.

It was really an amazing and unforgettable trip. We didn’t get to see everything I had on our itinerary, but I’ll admit that it was a little bit hopeful and unrealistic. We hit almost everything though. The only issue we had was the size and condition of the roads over there. They were TINY and some of them were totally rough and undeveloped. There were some scary moments on some treacherous roadways. But we handed in the car unscathed, which we’ve found out is not always the case. So that is my only warning – be prepared for some difficult driving. I didn’t even feel comfortable driving, so it was Hubby 100% of the time.

Also – I’ll say that I wish we had left our schedule a bit more flexible. I booked all of our B&Bs online before we went and then felt guilty if we thought about staying in one city for a while longer. Not to mention, I was worried we’d be charged anyway. So that is something to think about if you ever consider going. How structured do you want to be? Do you want any wiggle room? I’d recommend it.

So that’s my overly short recap of our trip. It does not do it justice and my few photos posted here hardly scratch the surface of the beauty. It was a great trip.

Now it’s back to the grind. And back to running. I ran a short 3 miles in the rain this evening and was happy I pushed through the disheartening weather. I was very close to just calling it a day. I’m going to create a half marathon training plan in the next day or two to help me stay on track. My 3 miles tonight were run Garmin-less and it was probably better that way. I need to ease back into it. However, I’ve only got a little over a month to get back into shape for my fall half marathon, so slacking is no longer allowed. I’m getting back to it and I’m fully excited about it. 🙂

Hope all has been good with everyone while I was away. I have a lot of catching up to do. However, I’ve been gone so long, no one is probably even reading this blog anymore.  Anyway – happy Monday night. It’s time for bed.

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Posted in Travel, Uncategorized, Vacation

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The Countdown Begins!

Posted on August 23, 2010 | 9 comments

Happy Monday all. How were your weekends? Mine was pretty low-key. Today is a dreary and depressing day in NYC, but I’m not letting it get me down because at this time next week I’ll be in Ireland!! Hence, the countdown to our Ireland Vacation 2010 has officially begun.

I’m a little bit nervous that this week is going to drag by because I’m so anxious and excited for vacation to get here. But then again, I do have a ton of stuff that I need to get done before I leave, so maybe this week will be busy and just buzz right by. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.

So anyway – this weekend was very nice, although not filled with any running to speak of. I have determined that I will not be motivated to run until after our vacation. It’s just not where my head is. I k now it’s awful, but I just haven’t felt like forcing it. Maybe this means I’m not a “real” runner, but I’m pretty tired of giving myself the guilt trip. I know that I’ve got a half marathon in October and I think that once we get back from Ireland, that looming deadline will really hit me and I’ll get into gear. Until then, I’m not going to beat myself up.  

If you’re a runner – do you ever “guilt” yourself for not running enough?

I had this conversation with my friend who is currently training for a fall marathon. Hearing her talk about her training makes me feel guilty for not running more and not running a fall marathon. That sounds pretty crazy – I know. She doesn’t experience the “runner’s guilt” like I do and I just wondered if any other runners out there get it?

Moving on, so last Friday was a busy day and then I went to the Yankee game with two of my girlfriends, one of which is pregnant. We did not eat healthy anything at the game…but we sure had fun!

Despite watching the Yankees lose pretty miserably, we still had a great time together. And the weather was amazing.

We called it a night after the game and went to bed fairly early. And then on Sunday morning, I took them to my favorite crepe place for breakfast – The Yorkville Creperie right around the corner. We debated between ordering savory or sweet crepes and then made the wise choice to split a savory crepe and each have our own sweet crepe.

Our savory crepe:

Filled with ham, egg and mozzarella.

Then my friend Becky and I ordered the Country Crepe:

I added some granola to mine. It is filled with strawberries, banana and nutella – YUM!

Lauren has this heavenly crepe:

It was filled with lot of fruits and topped with whipped cream. Doesn’t it look like the 4th of July?!

The rest of my weekend was very low-key. I read some more of my book “Once a Runner,” I watched Law Abiding Citizen with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx and thought it was pretty good. Then I cleaned a bit and watched Trueblood on Sunday night. I’m so sad that Trueblood is almost over. 😦 

I hope you all have a good Monday!

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Posted in Books, Restaurants, Running, Uncategorized

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Not Quite Ready to Quit

Posted on August 4, 2010 | 15 comments

Hi all – I know, who the heck am I right? I’ve been MIA for so long, I’m sure all my readership is gone, my bloggy friends have written me off, and nobody likes me… I guess I’ll go eat worms.

So what’s the deal right? Well – things have just been crazy busy at work and at home.  The fun non-work stuff has been running the Boilermaker back in July…

Camping with friends in Lake George…

Some BBQ-ing, hanging with friends and family, etc.

But when it rains it pours and as our summer fun picked up, so did my workload. A few weeks back, my boss gave me a new big project and responsibilities which have included a lot of coordination, creativity and writing.

But, as I started writing more at work, my desire to blog before or after work started to decline. I only had so many creative juices I could squeeze – ya know?

Anyway – I know this sounds like all excuses, excuses and maybe it is, but I don’t want to quit my blog completely. I just don’t think I can do it everyday. So my promise is to try to blog as often as possible, but it may not be everyday.

READ: Since I lasted posted, I’ve read two books:

EAT: Since I last posted, my eating hasn’t been great. On top of lacking motivation and time, we encountered an issue with our gas in our apt building and it has been turned off since July 24. Guess what – our stove is gas. Our solution was that Hubby and I went out and bought a hot plate, I’ve redefined the term microwave-friendly and have discovered that you can cook many, many things in a toaster oven. I jest, but seriously this has not been fun. Our dryer in the building also runs on gas, so Hubby and I have become the newest visitors to the nearby laundry mat, someplace I had never frequented before. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but man is it expensive!

Run: This has been worst component. Since the Boilermaker on July 12, I think I’ve run maybe twice. And last night was one of those nights. I started off my run at a brisk 7:46 minute mile and then watched as my speed steadily declined and I began hyperventilating. Anyone watching would never have believed that I ran a marathon a short 3 months ago.   I finished up at a 9:18 minute mile pace. Last weekend, Katherine texted me to see if I wanted to run either 9 or 11 miles (can’t remember which) and I literally laughed out loud as I pictured myself keeling over at the end of that run. However, this week as I watched my gut start to expand, I decided to get back in the game. Afterall, I am signed up for a Half Marathon in October. Eeek!

So alas my friends – you finally know the truth about my disappearance. I will try to regain my momentum and find the time to stay updated with the blogworld, but I’m going to beg for a little slack as I get back into the swing.

If you’re a blogger – what has been your longest lapse…if you’ve ever had one?  

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Posted in Bloggers, Books, Running, Travel, Uncategorized

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Back from the Boilermaker!

Posted on July 12, 2010 | 5 comments

Good morning – happy Monday! I’m trying to think positively here. How was everyone’s weekend?

I was a little mia for a bit at the end of last week and then we had a super busy weekend, so posting was not at the top of my list. Some of my weekend activities:

  • Finally going to see Eclipse with two of my girlfriends. I liked it soo much better than the first two movies and am looking forward to the next one already. I’m a sucker for cheesy movies.
  • Had a nice pasta dinner with Lauren before our Sunday race.
  • Dealt with some work stress over the weekend, but managed to get done what I needed to.
  • Ran my 6th Boilermaker 15k in Utica, N.Y. on Sunday morning!
  • Had a nice family BBQ at the in-law’s house after the race.

So those were the highlights of my weekend! What were the highlights of yours?

As far as the Boilermaker goes, I did not set a PR 😦 , but it wasn’t my worst time either. I ran it in 1:17:12. Last year I ran it in 1:17:03. I’m happy with that time considering I didn’t really train as well as I could have and hit a major running slump after the marathon in May.  

So how was the race overall? It was fun, but tough. Last year when I ran this race, I had started marathon training a few weeks before and I think I was in a little better shape. This year, we started in a faster corral (thank goodness) and didn’t have to weave in and out of people as much. Here are my stats from the race:

Mile 1 – 8:13
Mile 2 – 8:15
Mile 3 – 8:22
Mile 4 – 8:43
Mile 5 – 7:39
Mile 6 – 7:50
Mile 7 – 8:38
Mile 8 – 7:59
Mile 9 – 8:32
.40 – 2:59

Total mileage – 9.40 miles in 1:17:13. Average pace 8:12 minute mile

It was pretty cool to run this race with a Garmin for the first time. In the past, I really didn’t have much clue what my splits were. Mile 3 -4 is definitely tough for me – it’s at a golf course and there is a big, huge, long hill that we run up for most of that mile. Ugh. I’m glad that is over.

But overall, this is such a fun race. The whole town comes out to cheer you on, there is music, tons of water stations, and even a popsicle station. It’s a good time and I highly recommend this race. Plus, it’s the biggest 15k in the U.S.! This year was even the largest in the history of the race – over 13,000 people! Anyway – if you’re even slightly intrigued, you should check it out.

We were having so much fun that we didn’t end up leaving the in-law’s place upstate until about 7:15 p.m. and get home until after 11!! That meant that bedtime didn’t happen until about midnight. That is super late for me. So, I’m pretty tired today and have a dentist appointment – not a good Monday.

Hope you all have a great Monday though!! I do have a NYC restaurant review that I need to post – hopefully tomorrow!

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Posted in Races, Running, Travel, Uncategorized

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Toughening Up!

Posted on June 22, 2010 | 4 comments

Good morning all – we made it past Monday. Mine was a busy Monday – how about yours?

I started the day off with a lighter breakfast – whole wheat English muffin with cinnamon raisin PB and grape jelly.

My morning sort of flew by. For lunch, I had triscuits with laughing cow cheese and some carrots and grape tomatoes.

I’m loving the grape tomatoes right now, and the latest Cooking Light magazine has a bunch of great grape tomato recipes that I want to try.

Then my afternoon snack was Chobani with granola.

I ended up staying a little bit later at work than I expected and it was soo hot out after work, that I gave myself the night off from running. Plus, after my tough race day on Sunday, I think I needed the rest.

I came home and threw together a quick salad for dinner.

Field greens with apple, walnuts, cheddar cheese, grape tomatoes and beets with Sesame Ginger dressing. Yum!!

After dinner, I happily finished up some dessert that Hubby made on Sunday night.

A piece of pistachio pudding pie. I was iffy about the pistachio, but I actually really liked it. Thanks Hubs!

The rest of our night was low-key, we finished up some laundry and then I’ll confess that I watched The Bachelorette. There was nothing else on. Really. And sometimes it’s just funny to watch the crazies on there. 🙂

What is your guilty pleasure summer t.v. show? I’ve been watching The Bachelorette and So You Think You Can Dance. 🙂

I’m going to attempt a run tonight after work. I’d like for the predicted rain to hold off and for the temps to drop a little, but I’m not sure that is going to happen. I’m running the Wall Street American Heart Association 3-Mile Run on Thursday night, so I’d really like to get a run in today as well. This is me forcing myself to get back on track.   

I have to say that after reading Gracie’s comment on my blog post yesterday, I need to be thankful for the tolerable heat we have in NY. It’s nowhere near as bad as down south and I need to remember that, and quit being such a baby and toughen up!

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Posted in Running, Uncategorized

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Running in the Dark

Posted on January 12, 2010 | 12 comments

Good morning – how’s everyone on this Tuesday morning? I’m doing pretty well. Things have been busy, busy at work and yesterday just flew by. Here’s a quick look:

Breakfast yesterday was a delicious honey wheat double fiber English muffin with peanut butter and topped with banana. And of course, a side of cranberry juice.

No mid-morning snack for me because I ate an early lunch at about 12:15 Lunch was simply leftover tomato-basil soup from Sunday night. And it was even better today – more flavorful.

Looks kind gross in that Tupperware and horrid lighting, but it was good. My late afternoon snacks included some Horizon organic raspberry yogurt with granola and a Larabar.

I flew out of work right at 5:00 because I was pumped to meet up with Katherine for a nighttime run. I can’t tell you how psyched I am that she lives so close, runs at my speed and, if her schedule allows – is always ready for a run. But the girl does have one busy, busy schedule.

Anyway – we started off our run around 83rd and York and headed to the East River. We headed south to 59th street and then turned around. This was a first for me – I’ve never run along the river or in Central Park when it’s dark outside. I always head to the treadmill, albeit with some notable frustration.

Running in the dark was very interesting. The East River Esplanade is actually pretty well-lit, but it has its dark spots. I was surprised to see that there were quite a few other runners out there, even some women by themselves. Katherine and I joked about telling one lone female runner that she could run with us and be our friend – I just don’t think I’d ever be able to get out there by myself in the dark.

Once we turned around, we continued north back past 83rd and all the way up to 107th. That’s about where it starts to get a bit scary for me. Altogether, we ran 5 miles and here is our breakdown (thanks Garmin):

Mile 1 – 9:22
Mile 2 – 9:08
Mile 3 – 9:11
Mile 4 – 8:48
Mile 5 – 9:00
Total: 5 miles in 45:31

I’ve got to also say that although my first 2010 race this past Saturday was technically in colder temps, last night’s run felt pretty frigid. I talked to my mom after the run and she made the good point that even though Saturday was technically colder, I was running in the sun,  so I may have felt some residual heat or warming. That’s probably why last night felt colder to me.

Do you run in the dark? If yes, do you run alone or prefer to have a buddy?

I also feel that city night running is much different than running at night in the suburbs. Even though there are more people generally out and about in NYC, there are also more potential sketchy peeps. Last night I was too nervous to run in Central Park, even with Katherine, hence we hit the river instead.

When I got back to the apartment I started dinner almost immediately, but I did snack on some raisins and walnuts to tide me over. I was ravenous.

Dinner was baked chicken stuffed with chopped apple and feta cheese, with balsamic vinegar drizzled over top. We also had a side of vegetable couscous. Hubby informed he is not a fan of couscous – of any kind. I forced some curry couscous on him a few weeks back and he didn’t like it, but I thought maybe it was just the curry flavor – apparently it’s couscous in general.

Up close

After dinner I also ate the rest of the apple with some peanut butter for dessert.

We finished dinner and started scanning the tube, and seriously, The Bachelor was the only thing on. We started watching it and it was getting on my nerves, so just as I was about to turn the channel they announced that some drama was going to happen in the second hour and one of the girls was getting kicked off. Those producers and editors are darn good, because then I just had to see what the drama was. And what happened next…I watched the whole two hours of the show!

I have to admit, that was a twist that was way better than any of the fake drama they could have planned or instigated. Ha! I’m dying to see this “staffer” that hooked up with Rozalyn. And what exactly happened between them… Oh the drama!

Sorry for getting a little sidetracked. I leave you with some interesting health stuff in the news:

Counting of Calories Isn’t Always Accurate

Healthy Aging, With Nary a Supplement

The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating

New York City leads drive to cut U.S. salt intake

Are you a salter? I salt a few things a bit, but nothing crazy. I know a few people who are salt obsessed and put it on EVERYTHING. Usually without even tasting the dish first.

That’s all for today – have a good Tuesday!

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Posted in Bloggers, Running, Uncategorized

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