Tag Archives: spring

Saturday’s Successful 17

Good morning! I just finished a 17 mile run and I feel surprisingly good! I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I had some running buddies for part of it. Seriously, I think it helps so much. Katherine and Liz ran with me for about 9 miles and then I ran the remainder of my 17 alone. We talked about some pretty exciting stuff. I found out Katherine’s good news (but I won’t tell) and we celebrated Liz finding out she was placed at her top choice hospital for her upcoming residency! Congrats to both!

It seemed a little chilly when I first got up this morning, so I wore shorts, a tank and a long sleeve shirt. I knew the long sleeve shirt was a mistake within the first three miles. We headed toward Central Park from our usual meet-up spot around 81st and York. From there were did a full exterior loop and then hit the bridal path upper part for a bit more – topping out at 9 miles. They headed out the East 90th entrance and I headed around the loop again. Boy it got really hot by the time I finished around 10:30. Here are the full 17 stats:

Mile 1 – 9:44
Mile 2 – 8:51
Mile 3 – 8:55
Mile 4 – 9:11
Mile 5 – 8:49
Mile 6 – 9:04
Mile 7 – 8:57
Mile 8 – 9:15
Mile 9 – 9:16
Mile 10 – 8:40
Mile 11 – 8:57
Mile 12 – 9:07
Mile 13 – 9:05
Mile 14 – 8:43
Mile 15 – 8:50
Mile 16 – 8:40
Mile 17 – 8:49

Total mileage – 17.04 miles in 2:33:33

I am feeling a little bit sore, but not altogether that bad. Time to hit the shower and get ready to head to Brooklyn to hang with some lovely lady friends! And what a gorgeous day out! So amazing. The people running the NYC Half Marathon tomorrow are going to have an amazing day. Good luck to all those runners!

What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?

I hope you can get out and enjoy the nice weather! 🙂 Have a great weekend.

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Spring is in the Air!

Good morning all. Sorry I have been MIA, but the past few days have been crazy busy with work, St. Paddy’s Day fun and marathon training.

I started Wednesday off with a nice 4.5 mile run with Liz. The last time I ran in the morning we watched as the sun rose around 6:15. This time there was no sun on the horizon – it was a dark morning. Our splits were:

Mile 1 – 9:09
Mile 2 – 8:53
Mile 3 – 9:09
Mile 4 – 9:33
.53 – 4:31

Total mileage – 4.53 in 41:17 

When I woke up to head out for our run my hip was feeling very tight. But as we got moving it started to actually feel a little bit better. I think my body was not prepared for my super fast run on Tuesday night.

I’m not going to post all my eats for the past two days because there were a lot and I didn’t get a chance to photograph many of them.  I did take a few St. Paddy’s day pics though!

Here is me out in my green gear, trying to drink a Guinness.

I say trying because I only drank about 1/3 of it. I poured the rest into Bill’s beer. I really wanted to drink a glass of wine when we went out, but literally, not a soul in the bar had a wine and I knew I’d feel like a fool ordering one.

We went to three bars on St. Paddy’s day because we were searching for food. Yup – while everyone else was focused on drinking, Hubby and I each had our minds on food (Hubby also has his mind on Guinness though). At the second bar we went to, they were serving corned beef sandwiches, which was what Hubby wanted. But I wanted no part of that.

After he finished his gross-looking sammy, we left that bar in search of some nachos for me to snack on. We finally found The Back Page on 3rd Ave, which was serving food. I ordered a giant plate of nachos.

P.S. – these had WAY too much crap on them. We literally had to dig to find the chips. I still like making my own nachos better than I like most restaurant/bar nachos.

Hubby munched on some nachos as well, and enjoyed a few more pints of Guinness.

So much so that he had a Guinness “stach.”

He’s a little silly…

We stayed out with the crazy St. Paddy’s day partiers until about 9 p.m. – I know we’re so old! All in all, I had 1/3 of a Guinness and 1 Bud Light at the Back Page and then we called it quits. I took one “self portrait” before we headed out.

Thursday was a normal day with some normal eats. I was soo busy at work with a big project we are trying to wrap up. I may be a little scarce towards the end of next week as we launch the project and I devote about 4 hours of Wed, Thurs and Friday to it. Eek!

But anyway – after work yesterday I had another 8 mile run on my marathon training plan. Seriously – Hal Higdon is trying to kill me. I used his intermediate plan as a basis for my plan, but moved some of the runs around a little. And boy did these mid-week 8 milers sneak up on me. I still felt a twinge in my hip (p.s. – thanks for the stretching suggestions!), so I wanted to take my run slow. I had mixed success with that:

Mile 1 – 8:32
Mile 2 – 8:14
Mile 3 – 8:26
Mile 4 – 7:46
Mile 5 – 9:00
Mile 6 – 8:32
Mile 7 – 8:45
Mile 8 – 8:52

Total Mileage – 8 miles in 1:08:14

Ok – so I know about half of those splits aren’t taking it easy. And then yes, I know mile 4 is pretty ridiculous, but there was a reason. I ran on the East River Promenade and headed north to about 115 St. As I turned around and headed back, a big group of high school (I assume) boys trotted down one of the ramps and were basically running right beside me. Umm hello – awkward. Especially when I didn’t have headphones on and could clearly hear them talking about me. And then when they began making little yelps and noises, I decided it was time to pull ahead and get the heck out of there. Hence my speedy 7:46 pace. 

And Mom, before you read this and freak out, there were many other people around that area running, biking, etc., so I wasn’t in any danger, just kind of uncomfortable.  

Have you ever had a weird, scary or uncomfortable running experience? How did you handle it?

After my run I felt pretty good – the hip felt okay, but I was tired. Hubby and I did enjoy a nice steak last night with some broccoli on the side, but I forgot to upload the picture. I also had a banana with peanut butter for dessert. Then I headed to bed at about 10:15 and slept like a rock.

I also wanted to post that I finished Angela’s Ashes on St. Patrick’s Day – how appropriate right?! I hope to have a review coming soon, but I also feel like everyone has already read the book. All the same, I like to record my thoughts on it.

My next book is the The Help. I started reading it on the subway yesterday and last night before bed. It’s definitely very different and it was hard to get the dialect at first, but now it’s flowing.

I am definitely looking forward to the weekend and the nice weather we’re supposed to have in the city. I think it’s supposed to reach 72 degrees out tomorrow! Have a great weekend all and get outside if you can!

Snack Attack!

Good morning all. It’s Tuesday and I’m hoping today’s work day goes by as fast as yesterday’s. I was pretty busy. And I can’t believe it’s already mid-March. I’ve officially become a weather stalker – checking weather.com multiple times throughout my day. I can’t believe how nice the next few days are supposed to be. I’m hoping the rain will hold off until at least Sunday so I can get my nice long run in on Saturday.

If that isn’t beauty, I don’t know what is!

So I’ll just do a quick recap of yesterday’s eats. Breakfast was Kashi Heart to Heart Cinnamon cereal.

I went with a light lunch after all the eating and drinking this past weekend. I was still feeling a little bit tired and decided some veggies would help. I had a salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, cheddar cheese, walnuts, artichoke hearts and chickpeas with balsamic vinaigrette.

My afternoon snack was Chobani yogurt with some Galaxy Granola and Kashi Go Lean cereal.

After work I headed to the gym since raindrops were falling on my head and I didn’t feel like running my 4 miles in the rain. I did a nice, easy 4 miles on the treadmill in 34:22.

Then I headed home with the fullest intention of starting dinner as soon as I got in. However, I started uploading photos from the bridal shower and bachelorette this weekend, while snacking on some Life cereal and before I knew it, I was kind of full. Not good. I totally had a snack attack without even realizing it.

I made dinner anyway, with the hope that maybe I would be hungry later. I tried out this recipe from Cooking Light.com.

Parmesan Chicken and Rice

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

  • 1  tablespoon  olive oil
  • 1/2  cup  chopped onion
  • 1  teaspoon  bottled minced garlic
  • 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme
  • 1  (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
  • 3/4  pound  skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1/2  cup  dry white wine
  • 1/2  teaspoon  salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
  • 1  cup  uncooked instant rice
  • 1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4  cup  chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme, and mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add chicken; sauté 4 minutes or until the chicken is lightly browned. Add wine, salt, and pepper; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.

Stir in rice and broth. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in cheese and parsley.

I had to cook everything a little bit longer than indicated, but it came out pretty well.

It will be my lunch for today though, since I really only ate a few spoonfuls last night because I was so full. Seriouly – Life cereal is addicting. I may not be buying it again. I just happened to spot it at the grocery store and felt a sudden urge to buy it.

How do you keep from snacking before dinner? Or is there a go-to snack you eat that isn’t too filling?

It looks like a beautiful day outside! I’ve got an 8 mile training run on my marathon training plan today, so I’m hoping I can get a quick Central Park run in before it gets dark out tonight.

Have a great Tuesday all – enjoy the lovely weather if you’ve got it!

Where Did All the Food Go?

Good Morning all! We’ve made it to Thursday – doesn’t it feel great? Although I am a bit sad that the rainy weather is moving in. This sunshine and warm air has been positively blissful!

More bliss – getting in a nice 4.5+ run with Katherine and Liz this morning! The temperature gauge claimed it was 47 degrees outside when I left the house, but it sure didn’t feel that warm. However, it was great to see so many other runners out in Central Park – it made it feel like Spring is finally here.

I’ll just do a quick recap of yesterday (Wednesday). I did not run in the morning, so I was up a little bit late and had some Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with blueberries for breakfast.

My morning went by really fast. All of  a sudden it was lunch (don’t you love that?) and I broke into my very ripe banana and PB&J on an Arnold Thin.

Little messy, lots of yum.

Afternoon snacks were: Yoplait yogurt with Galaxy Granola (we’re all out of Chobani) and an Apple Pie Larabar.

Human Garbage Disposals
Hubby and I went shopping last week (on Tuesday) when we were out in Staten Island getting our taxes done. It was a big load of food, to say the least. I said to him as we were going through the check-out that it looks like we’re feeding a family of four. We had soo much food. And the thought of carrying it up four flights of stairs frankly scared me. I tried to insist we put some things back. We didn’t.

It seemed ridiculous to me then. But now – I can’t seem to find any food in the house! We’re almost out of fruit, the only veggies we have are frozen, no Chobani, etc., etc. I told him last night that with the way things disappear, I feel like we must eat an incredible amount. And maybe we actually do, the food just happens to be healthy and so we don’t gain weight.

But this only serves to validate the fact that if you want to eat healthy, it’s going to cost you. A person goes through healthy, fresh foods so much faster than processed and packaged foods. I can understand why someone would buy canned goods, and pre-packaged meals and items – they will last them so much longer. I think one of the key goals in fighting the obesity epidemic has got to be to somehow make fresh, healthier foods more affordable and accessible to low-income individuals.

Sorry for that little rant. It just always boggles my mind how much food the Hubby and I go through alone – we are human garbage disposals it seems.

How often do you go grocery shopping? Do you ever feel you run out of food too quickly? Do you buy in bulk to make fewer trips or go as needed?

Anyhow – onto yesterday’s post-work activities. I headed to the gym and knocked out 5 miles in 43 minutes on the treadmill.

Then I headed home and ate a quick leftovers dinner. My Tomato Tortellini Spinach Soup leftovers had absorbed most of the liquid (note this if you decide to make it – add more broth – definitely 6 cups). I decided to eat it anyway and sprinkled on a bit of shredded cheese. It was yummy and very filling. The tortellini were especially flavorful from absorbing the liquid. I also threw a few sun-dried tomatoes on there as well.

After dinner I relaxed and watched Superbad on t.v. for a bit and then headed in to bed to read Angela’s Ashes around 9:00 p.m. I literally laughed out loud at one part and I just have to share:

Frankie is talking about how clean and nice it was in the hospital: “I lie in bed and think of the hospital where the white sheets were changed every day and there wasn’t a sign of a flea. There was a lavatory where you could sit and read your book till someone asked if you were dead.”

I don’t know why this cracks me up s0 much, but it does. The last line and his tone is just hysterical. This is his tone throughout the book. I’m just past page 200 and there’s about 360 pages in the book. Yes, it’s sad in many respects to read about the poverty they endure, but Frankie’s narration is  just great. You can’t help laughing despite the terrible conditions and things that happen to this family. So far I really like it – hopefully a book review to come soon.

Have you read Angela’s Ashes – did you like it?

That’s all for Thursdays – have a good one!

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

Haha – yes you can. That line from A Few Good Men just kept popping into my head when I was writing my liar post yesterday.

I’ll tell you what my truth was after I recap yesterday’s eats. For breakfast I had oatmeal with banana and peanut butter and a small glass of cranberry juice.

I was so busy at work that I missed my mid-morning snack entirely and just at my lunch early – around 12:15. I had peanut butter and apple butter on an Arnold sandwich thin. Gotta say, the apple butter idea wasn’t too great. It had pretty much soaked into the sandwich thin by the time lunch rolled around. Live and learn. I also had a small bag of carrots as well.

My afternoon flew by, but I squeezed in two snacks. Chobani yogurt with Kashi Go Lean cereal and a small bag of walnuts and raisins.

I skipped the gym and my run again yesterday just to be on the safe side. I am hitting the gym tonight for a 3-4 mile run though. I headed home and Hubby and I cleaned up the apartment a bit after our lazy sick weekend. It was atrocious.

After the cleaning was done I made a quick dinner. We had some leftover cooked pasta that needed to be eaten, so I used most of it up with some Newman’s Sockarooni pasta sauce and a side salad with grape tomatoes and feta cheese.

I’m finally feeling like I have my normal appetite back. Since about Saturday through Monday I haven’t feel very hungry or very excited about food. So strange. I was excited for this hearty meal though and gobbled it up.

Ok – now for time for the truth. My one and only truth from yesterday’s post was:

2. I’ve never had a cavity.

All the rest were lies – all lies! To be fair, some of my “outrageous lies” weren’t so outrageous. It was really hard to think of good lies. Basically, I love reading fiction and tend to avoid biographies at all costs, I absolutely HATE feet (except for baby feet), my husband proposed to me on a beach, I’ve been living in NYC for almost 4 years (not 5 – although it feels like 5 sometimes), I can speak 1 language – English (although I took German all through high school and two years in college), and lastly, I have TERRIBLE vision (I literally can only see the big E on the chart without my contacts).

So that’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Thanks for all your guesses! I do believe that Jess was the only person who guessed right. 🙂

And thanks for all the support on getting healthy again. Each day seems to be getting a little better. I got momentarily freaked out that maybe it was sinus infection, but I’ve been researching the symptoms and I haven’t been experiencing any of the headaches or facial pressure that typically goes along with a sinus infection. Plus, I’m thinking that even if it is a sinus infection, the antibiotics I’m taking would probably help get rid of that as well.

So that’s that. Can you believe that we’ll be into the month of March next week?! Time to get back into my training mode – the Poconos Marathon will be here before I know it!

Question of the day: What’s your favorite thing about spring?!