Quickie recap:
Races: 0
Trail runs: 1
Longest run: 18 mi
Doubles: 2
Yoga: averaged once/week
Total miles: 233.9
February will be all about more time on the trails and more time on my feet, i.e. several hour long runs
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Are there mini pads & helmets too?
So yeah, this has been sitting in the hallway at work for a week + now. At first glance I was reminded of the awesome days at a start-up company when I first moved to NYC. We had "late night working Wednesdays" when we'd theoretically talk about work strategy and have meaningful discussions about expanding our client base while chowing on pizza and sucking back beers. In reality, we may have had an hour of that on a single Wednesday and every other one was beer, pizza and playing hall ball. Sigh, I miss those days!
After snapping back to present day office-life, I looked some more and wondered what tiny little office drones were secretly logging the ole 9-5 and getting in some hockey after hours. I mean, check out the actual size of the goals and equipment below in my sweet birds-eye view shot...
I'm no giant but at 5'8" either my back would be breaking or my knees (is that even plausible?) would be wrecked worse than when I was a way-over-30 year old volleyball player facing youngins' straight outta college. Yeeeeouch. It wasn't until some co-workers (or maybe it was Jason??) and I spent a bit of useless meeting time discussing the possibilities that someone mentioned it likely a game played on a table. Yeah, that seems about right but why the hell is it sitting in the hallway?? And what about the tiny little office drones? They'd never reach at regular table height! We may never know. :)
At any rate, back to last week. I finally got my butt back up to near 60, 57 mi to be exact, but a lot of it was sloppy and lacking quality. I did have a couple "I feel like I'm flying" runs where I wasn't quite flying but it felt effortless however most could be labeled junk miles. And while I'm quite accepting of winter and all the crud that drops from the sky, there comes a point when it's just not that easy to run tempos or intervals outside in sometimes sketch conditions. Luckily for me, I'm not going for a super fast HM this weekend in Surf City, frankly I'll take whatever I can get, so my next goal race is that 50K and I don't need to be fast when I'm tripping all over the trails, just upright. So for now I'll aim for quality runs 2x a week and take whatever I can get, as long as I'm moving my cupcake laden self forward, it's a win. Which brings me to remaining thought, I guess I need to find another HM to try and run fast ....hmmm.
After snapping back to present day office-life, I looked some more and wondered what tiny little office drones were secretly logging the ole 9-5 and getting in some hockey after hours. I mean, check out the actual size of the goals and equipment below in my sweet birds-eye view shot...
I'm no giant but at 5'8" either my back would be breaking or my knees (is that even plausible?) would be wrecked worse than when I was a way-over-30 year old volleyball player facing youngins' straight outta college. Yeeeeouch. It wasn't until some co-workers (or maybe it was Jason??) and I spent a bit of useless meeting time discussing the possibilities that someone mentioned it likely a game played on a table. Yeah, that seems about right but why the hell is it sitting in the hallway?? And what about the tiny little office drones? They'd never reach at regular table height! We may never know. :)
At any rate, back to last week. I finally got my butt back up to near 60, 57 mi to be exact, but a lot of it was sloppy and lacking quality. I did have a couple "I feel like I'm flying" runs where I wasn't quite flying but it felt effortless however most could be labeled junk miles. And while I'm quite accepting of winter and all the crud that drops from the sky, there comes a point when it's just not that easy to run tempos or intervals outside in sometimes sketch conditions. Luckily for me, I'm not going for a super fast HM this weekend in Surf City, frankly I'll take whatever I can get, so my next goal race is that 50K and I don't need to be fast when I'm tripping all over the trails, just upright. So for now I'll aim for quality runs 2x a week and take whatever I can get, as long as I'm moving my cupcake laden self forward, it's a win. Which brings me to remaining thought, I guess I need to find another HM to try and run fast ....hmmm.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Keeping it strong?
Didn't want to include these two bits in the last post, they are quite the opposite of weak. Saturday afternoon after a crushing Kansas loss, I headed up to the Apple store to replace my slowly dying Nano. Being that Magnolia is only like a block away, there's no way I couldn't pop in there as well. It's no secret that I love cupcakes so it's probably not too much of a secret that I don't buy just one cupcake, I need one of the standard vanilla cakes preferably w/green frosting but blue or pink or whatever else will do as well. And then another, usually of a custom flavoring, if available. Saturday it was all carrot cake ...holy frijoles this sucker ROCKED!
The frosting was cream cheese based, of course, but the cake itself was divine! Very opposite of dry (I hate that "m" word) and gone down my gullet in record time.
Sunday afternoon was a long overdue visit with my most fabulous running partners. I can't tell you of many runs that go by when I'm not wishing the 4 of us were together again. I know it'll happen sometime soon but for now I was happy to be dishing out belly rubs to both Bella & Allie and catching up with Missy on all the happenings that we'd normally discuss on daily runs. She's an amazing mom and kickass role model to that cute little stinker below.
Bella, being a good big sister and playing it cool around Allie's toys.
Trying rice cereal for the first time.
Missy totally has a mini-me, let's hope she's as ready for marathon training as Missy is!
Sunday afternoon was a long overdue visit with my most fabulous running partners. I can't tell you of many runs that go by when I'm not wishing the 4 of us were together again. I know it'll happen sometime soon but for now I was happy to be dishing out belly rubs to both Bella & Allie and catching up with Missy on all the happenings that we'd normally discuss on daily runs. She's an amazing mom and kickass role model to that cute little stinker below.
Missy totally has a mini-me, let's hope she's as ready for marathon training as Missy is!
Keeping it weak
The week started off really freakin' weak, as in I did nothing on Monday. No run, no yoga, I don't think I even cooked dinner ...no nothing. I talked myself out of any pre-work activity and by the time I arrived home that evening, was spent. Work was nothing out of the ordinary but all I felt like was sitting on my ass and feeling sorry for myself. I wasn't sore or sick or especially tired, I was just weak sauce.
By the next day I was sure I'd screwed the pooch, we were cursed with nasty frozen rain that pooled around existing snow and created even more opportunities to perfect one's long jump while commuting to work. It was gross and kept alternating between ice and rain, however by the time I left the office it had mostly stopped and the temp had worked it's way above freezing leaving me a great running opportunity. Redemption! It was also one of the seldom occasions were I wore capris; capris in general don't really fit into my apparel selection. If it's 40 or above I'm likely wearing shorts, below there and I've got tights on. However with the right combination of elements capris feel right ...those being warmer but a little damp with an outside change of rain. Pulling full tights off your legs when soaking wet is what I imagine it feels like to get out of a wet suit and sporting extra red legs b/c of cold and wet don't make for an easy cool down. My half-covered legs and I enjoyed a spectacular evening of running with a side of puddle jumping & rat dodging (they were out in full force after the ice/rain).
Wednesday provided another warmer day that I took advantage of by running to and from the yoga studio, before we dipped back to chilly again. Thursday was a TM tempo run, uh what ...I hate the TM! For those not in the know, I don't run on it but maybe once or twice a year, it's not that I have any profound beliefs as to why a TM should or should not be run on but rather that I hate it. It makes me crazy, I run differently on it, I like being outside in all weather conditions and it makes me crazy. However, fueled by fear of an upcoming HM, I felt it might be a good idea if I were to dial back into my tempo pace so I might be able to run a few miles of it in said HM. It turned out OK but I'm gunning for the track to be cleared for a similar workout this week. By Friday I was in the exact same state as Monday. Weaker than ever and bailing on any running or other activity. Oh wait, I did cook dinner that night, a gourmet dish of grilled peanut butter and jelly, idea courtesy of Shelby. Friday weak < Monday weak.
By the weekend I'd pulled my head out and focused on getting some good miles logged and my act together w/regard to some organization stuffs around the apartment. The colder temps didn't bother me a bit, layered up and hit the park for most of 18 miles on Saturday and then the WSH for a bit over 9 miles on Sunday. While I don't think the wind was much worse on Sunday, I was running right into it by being along the Hudson and not the semi-guarded CP. For what should have been a 60+ mile weak, I waddled in with a whopping 49.1 mi (sarcasm intended):
Monday - nada
Tuesday - 9 mi ez, finished w/6x strides
Wednesday - 6.35 mi around 90 mins. yoga
Thursday - 6.43 mi w/3 x 5 mins @tempo
Friday - nada
Saturday - 18 mi
Sunday - 9.35 mi ez
Total = 49.13 mi
Fails for the week: Monday and Friday
High-fives for the week: Return of both strides and tempo and a really fun long run
By the next day I was sure I'd screwed the pooch, we were cursed with nasty frozen rain that pooled around existing snow and created even more opportunities to perfect one's long jump while commuting to work. It was gross and kept alternating between ice and rain, however by the time I left the office it had mostly stopped and the temp had worked it's way above freezing leaving me a great running opportunity. Redemption! It was also one of the seldom occasions were I wore capris; capris in general don't really fit into my apparel selection. If it's 40 or above I'm likely wearing shorts, below there and I've got tights on. However with the right combination of elements capris feel right ...those being warmer but a little damp with an outside change of rain. Pulling full tights off your legs when soaking wet is what I imagine it feels like to get out of a wet suit and sporting extra red legs b/c of cold and wet don't make for an easy cool down. My half-covered legs and I enjoyed a spectacular evening of running with a side of puddle jumping & rat dodging (they were out in full force after the ice/rain).
Wednesday provided another warmer day that I took advantage of by running to and from the yoga studio, before we dipped back to chilly again. Thursday was a TM tempo run, uh what ...I hate the TM! For those not in the know, I don't run on it but maybe once or twice a year, it's not that I have any profound beliefs as to why a TM should or should not be run on but rather that I hate it. It makes me crazy, I run differently on it, I like being outside in all weather conditions and it makes me crazy. However, fueled by fear of an upcoming HM, I felt it might be a good idea if I were to dial back into my tempo pace so I might be able to run a few miles of it in said HM. It turned out OK but I'm gunning for the track to be cleared for a similar workout this week. By Friday I was in the exact same state as Monday. Weaker than ever and bailing on any running or other activity. Oh wait, I did cook dinner that night, a gourmet dish of grilled peanut butter and jelly, idea courtesy of Shelby. Friday weak < Monday weak.
By the weekend I'd pulled my head out and focused on getting some good miles logged and my act together w/regard to some organization stuffs around the apartment. The colder temps didn't bother me a bit, layered up and hit the park for most of 18 miles on Saturday and then the WSH for a bit over 9 miles on Sunday. While I don't think the wind was much worse on Sunday, I was running right into it by being along the Hudson and not the semi-guarded CP. For what should have been a 60+ mile weak, I waddled in with a whopping 49.1 mi (sarcasm intended):
Monday - nada
Tuesday - 9 mi ez, finished w/6x strides
Wednesday - 6.35 mi around 90 mins. yoga
Thursday - 6.43 mi w/3 x 5 mins @tempo
Friday - nada
Saturday - 18 mi
Sunday - 9.35 mi ez
Total = 49.13 mi
Fails for the week: Monday and Friday
High-fives for the week: Return of both strides and tempo and a really fun long run
Monday, January 17, 2011
Too much of a good thing
I'm through another 7 days on the training plan as a small cut-back week, before I get back to building & ending up around 60 miles again. Even though I was shooting for less mileage there were too many short runs in here, I mean if I'm going to get all bundled up and outside in the elements I want my money's worth. That will be a good focus for the coming week. I also need to try and squeeze some more quality out of general ez runs, in the form of strides and/or some tempo intervals. More focus to work on.
Lastly I need to do some more tightening up on my food intake, I've been much better about planning & cooking and assuring I have good stuffs with me while at the office but overall I enjoyed far too much cheese this past week with a surge of it over the weekend. Undoubtedly this was a huge factor in why that Sunday run got made into two runs ...booo! Which brings me to the topic of compromise, a hot topic always. We all know things don't always go accordingly to plan and rather than skipping a run altogether, often we have to fit in what we can, alter the run's purpose or just plain ole make do. It's definitely not a strong suit of mine to just roll with it but I'm getting better at recognizing when I should and reacting accordingly. Take Saturday's workout for instance, I slept in a bit (wayyyy needed!) and absolutely had to do some stuff around the apt. for my sanity's sake (see: slacker post here) before I got out for a run. Additionally I had a full day of bachelorette/not-bachelorette party fun planned with Steph and her girls from Buffalo so time was limited. I'd kicked myself in the ass for not getting hills in earlier in the week so I changed up venues to use a hill closer to home and shortened my warm-up & cool-down miles. Net result: a strong set of hills in a power packed 51 minutes. Here's how the week shook out:
Monday - 90 mins. yoga
Tuesday - 8.25 mi ez
Wednesday - 8 mi ez
Thursday - 6 mi ez
Friday - 5.95 mi ez
Saturday - 5.86* mi w/7x hill repeats *isn't that a nasty little number to be stuck with, wish I'd paid more attn, would have run a bit more
Sunday - 8 mi and then a few hours later, 8 mi more
Total = 50.06 mi
Back to that bachelorette/not-bachelorette party... first stop was lunch at Bouley, a gorgeous French restaurant in TriBeCa that uniquely offers a tasting menu 7 days/week. 5 courses for $36 is a HUGE steal in NYC and with so many great options, the 4 of us enjoyed bites of most all of them. I think my favorites came out as the Porcini Flan w/Alaska Dungeness Crab & Black Truffle Dash and the Cape Cod Skate Steamed with Toasted Pinenut Dressing & a Sunchoke Puree w/Micro Celery but everything was monster delicious!! After a bit of walking (absolutely needed!) and walking in between each, we enjoyed cocktails at a couple great spots with my favorite being at Temple Bar (try the Riviera Spritzer!) and then ended the evening at Eataly. Now Eataly in itself is a trip out so I'll definitely have to go back when I'm not over-full, tired and a bit tipsy.
Lastly I need to do some more tightening up on my food intake, I've been much better about planning & cooking and assuring I have good stuffs with me while at the office but overall I enjoyed far too much cheese this past week with a surge of it over the weekend. Undoubtedly this was a huge factor in why that Sunday run got made into two runs ...booo! Which brings me to the topic of compromise, a hot topic always. We all know things don't always go accordingly to plan and rather than skipping a run altogether, often we have to fit in what we can, alter the run's purpose or just plain ole make do. It's definitely not a strong suit of mine to just roll with it but I'm getting better at recognizing when I should and reacting accordingly. Take Saturday's workout for instance, I slept in a bit (wayyyy needed!) and absolutely had to do some stuff around the apt. for my sanity's sake (see: slacker post here) before I got out for a run. Additionally I had a full day of bachelorette/not-bachelorette party fun planned with Steph and her girls from Buffalo so time was limited. I'd kicked myself in the ass for not getting hills in earlier in the week so I changed up venues to use a hill closer to home and shortened my warm-up & cool-down miles. Net result: a strong set of hills in a power packed 51 minutes. Here's how the week shook out:
Monday - 90 mins. yoga
Tuesday - 8.25 mi ez
Wednesday - 8 mi ez
Thursday - 6 mi ez
Friday - 5.95 mi ez
Saturday - 5.86* mi w/7x hill repeats *isn't that a nasty little number to be stuck with, wish I'd paid more attn, would have run a bit more
Sunday - 8 mi and then a few hours later, 8 mi more
Total = 50.06 mi
Back to that bachelorette/not-bachelorette party... first stop was lunch at Bouley, a gorgeous French restaurant in TriBeCa that uniquely offers a tasting menu 7 days/week. 5 courses for $36 is a HUGE steal in NYC and with so many great options, the 4 of us enjoyed bites of most all of them. I think my favorites came out as the Porcini Flan w/Alaska Dungeness Crab & Black Truffle Dash and the Cape Cod Skate Steamed with Toasted Pinenut Dressing & a Sunchoke Puree w/Micro Celery but everything was monster delicious!! After a bit of walking (absolutely needed!) and walking in between each, we enjoyed cocktails at a couple great spots with my favorite being at Temple Bar (try the Riviera Spritzer!) and then ended the evening at Eataly. Now Eataly in itself is a trip out so I'll definitely have to go back when I'm not over-full, tired and a bit tipsy.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Committed, I am and I need to be
HAAAALP!
Mailed my registration in for this guy today. Coincidentally or not, maybe I'm just in the mood to cross items off the ever-growing to-do list, I registered one of our NYC-based teams for the spring edition of RTB and mailed in fees for the fall edition of RTB. It's pay day and money is a-flowing... come and get some before I run out.
blink
Too late.
About the race, the huge upside (aside from running an official 50K) is that the fabulous coach Lloyd is the RD and can provide some great inside scoop on the course and of course how to train for it. Time to lay out plans for more time on the trails and getting my PF to suck it up and like it.
Mailed my registration in for this guy today. Coincidentally or not, maybe I'm just in the mood to cross items off the ever-growing to-do list, I registered one of our NYC-based teams for the spring edition of RTB and mailed in fees for the fall edition of RTB. It's pay day and money is a-flowing... come and get some before I run out.
blink
Too late.
About the race, the huge upside (aside from running an official 50K) is that the fabulous coach Lloyd is the RD and can provide some great inside scoop on the course and of course how to train for it. Time to lay out plans for more time on the trails and getting my PF to suck it up and like it.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Teamwork
This week is dragging big time + I feel woefully behind in EVERYTHING. The apartment is a freakin' wreck, I need to do [more] laundry, I'm behind in mailing out a bunch of stuff and making some returns and a regular grocery store trip hasn't been made. We're scraping the bottom of the barrel here people... argh! Part All of this is my fault of course, poor time management & not enough hours in the day coupled with the hope that some of the to-do list would get accomplished on the snow day I (and everyone else in NYC) thought was a sure thing and subsequently didn't happen yesterday means I need to play catch up.
There have been a few bright spots, however. First up was dinner Monday night; as previously mentioned we don't have a ton of good stuff on hand at home at the moment and arriving home late from yoga i.e. 9:00 p.m. is no time to start thinking about what to eat. Luckily we had veggies, rice and tofu and a sous chef that excels in a couple, particular recipes. Jason is always the preparer of one of our standard meals, Shrimp to Nuts. It's a pretty simple recipe preparing shrimp with veggies, some nuts (often almonds or cashews) in a peanut oil, soy sauce and red pepper flake mixture and served over brown rice. Tonight we just subbed out the shrimp for tofu and threw in some pepitas as the nut cupboard was low on most everything else. Oh my... was it ever muy delicioso!!! And big props to Jason for overcoming his texture issues and eating his plate clean :) Check it...
There have been a few bright spots, however. First up was dinner Monday night; as previously mentioned we don't have a ton of good stuff on hand at home at the moment and arriving home late from yoga i.e. 9:00 p.m. is no time to start thinking about what to eat. Luckily we had veggies, rice and tofu and a sous chef that excels in a couple, particular recipes. Jason is always the preparer of one of our standard meals, Shrimp to Nuts. It's a pretty simple recipe preparing shrimp with veggies, some nuts (often almonds or cashews) in a peanut oil, soy sauce and red pepper flake mixture and served over brown rice. Tonight we just subbed out the shrimp for tofu and threw in some pepitas as the nut cupboard was low on most everything else. Oh my... was it ever muy delicioso!!! And big props to Jason for overcoming his texture issues and eating his plate clean :) Check it...
Another bright spot came in the form of seeing the premiere of Hood to Coast with many of the people who will be my teammates for the first ever spring edition of Reach the Beach. The movie did a great job in capturing the essence of a running relay including the variety of characters involved, the miles and miles of coordinated hilarity and dedication and the friendships tested & established through such a shared experience. It only made me for excited for the upcoming opportunity and also lit a fire under my butt in lining up registrations, team name selection and other assorted co-captain duties.
Next up, more spring time racing plans... stay tuned.
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