While my little choatic world is going on around me, I realize it is to start focusing on the task at hand. Today during my over/unders I found myself in a familiar place. In my mind I was on the course of the NY Marathon. I am familiar with the course, having run it a few times already and I know where my challenges lie and where the crowd will push you beyond what you thought you could do.
It is such a crazy race for so many reason. One, how can there be so many hills? You wouldn't think in a city you could encounter so many but with the amount of bridges you run, by the time you hit mile 18, you would actually pay someone to flatten the course for you. Then there are the crowds. Each borough has it's own personality and you can see it in your cheerleaders. Brooklyn, where you start and spend about ten miles of your race has so many different aspects, it is crazy. From the partying twenty-somethings, to the yuppie families, it is always an adventure. Then there are the quiet parts. Some spots in the Bronx, make you wish for Brooklyn again, even though that would set you miles back. Towards the end as you head into the park for the first time, you can feel the excitement grow, as you head out at the Plaza and head up to Columbus circle, you know that there are only a few miles between you and a finish line. It is an amazing feeling, even to visualize and write about it, I have goosebumps already.
That is where I was this morning. An hour and fifteen minutes on the NY Marathon course in my brain. Who knows what this city will present me with next Sunday, but I am already there and now getting ready for whatever is coming at me.
Only one more long run to go and then I am there. As for goals, I am going with who knows right now!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Things Hurt
Life at the hotel has been pretty uneventful. Although Nick and I did have some fun on Saturday night and pretended like we were on vacation, which meant some good food and lots of drinks! But other than that, it has been lots of running, including a few days of over/unders and a 1:45 Z1/Z2 run on Saturday and phone calls to figure out where we will be living next.
It turns out we will be getting an apartment 2 miles from our place. Which means we can host Thanksgiving regardless if our apartment is ready or not! This makes me quite happy, but more on that later in the month! Another good thing, will be settling into a "normal" life and leaving all of the work to the contractors at our condo. Between, running, being on on site project manager and still working my normal job, the last week was a bit much.
But what I noticed, is that it has taken my focus off of one thing I would usually be nervous about right now, The NYC Marathon. Yup, I just looked my calendar and realized that baby is just over a week away. WHAT?!?!? Where did the time go? Seriously, I thought maybe I was reading the calendar wrong when I saw that November 4th is a lot closer than anticipated!
So now, I get to move into my new apartment, start my taper and get down to business! And I mean really get down to business. I am not sure how I actually feel about the race since I haven't thought about it at all. All I know is that I am tired and it is showing up in my recovery from these runs. I think I have been running with some bad posture lately. After each long run, I end up with some lower back pain, so I think I just need to focus on pulling in my abs a bit more.
But now it is time to get my eye on the prize. This is the last race of my season and then we launch full force into some good vacations, that we held off on so we could really enjoy them. So I have to try to make it a good one! We shall see what NYC has in store for me.
Today I got my new shoes, so I can get one last long run with them to break them in and I bought some new running capri's which I will also be test driving. After Saturdays long run it will be all about focus. And after some nice tapering I should be ready to go!
Any end of season races for you guys?
It turns out we will be getting an apartment 2 miles from our place. Which means we can host Thanksgiving regardless if our apartment is ready or not! This makes me quite happy, but more on that later in the month! Another good thing, will be settling into a "normal" life and leaving all of the work to the contractors at our condo. Between, running, being on on site project manager and still working my normal job, the last week was a bit much.
But what I noticed, is that it has taken my focus off of one thing I would usually be nervous about right now, The NYC Marathon. Yup, I just looked my calendar and realized that baby is just over a week away. WHAT?!?!? Where did the time go? Seriously, I thought maybe I was reading the calendar wrong when I saw that November 4th is a lot closer than anticipated!
So now, I get to move into my new apartment, start my taper and get down to business! And I mean really get down to business. I am not sure how I actually feel about the race since I haven't thought about it at all. All I know is that I am tired and it is showing up in my recovery from these runs. I think I have been running with some bad posture lately. After each long run, I end up with some lower back pain, so I think I just need to focus on pulling in my abs a bit more.
But now it is time to get my eye on the prize. This is the last race of my season and then we launch full force into some good vacations, that we held off on so we could really enjoy them. So I have to try to make it a good one! We shall see what NYC has in store for me.
Today I got my new shoes, so I can get one last long run with them to break them in and I bought some new running capri's which I will also be test driving. After Saturdays long run it will be all about focus. And after some nice tapering I should be ready to go!
Any end of season races for you guys?
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Life Got Interesting...to Say the Least
Well the past week again was filled with lots of running amongst other things! I got in a 2 hours Z1/Z2 run at a 9:17 pace and although I was a little sore the next day, I generally felt great. Then on Friday afternoon, Nick and I headed off to Martha's Vineyard to spend the weekend with Nick's parents. We had never been there, although we had both been to the Cape so it was a fun adventure for us.
We spent the weekend sightseeing and stuffing ourselves with lobster, chowder and all things seafood. Seriously, I made sure to incorporate fish into every meal. I even opted for a bagel and lox for breakfast when we ate it. On Saturday I woke up a bit sore and decided if I was going to spend the day walking around, it might be a good idea to give my legs a break, so I opted out of my Zone R run and figured I would just get it in on Sunday.
Sunday we were up and at em' nice and early to catch the early ferry back. Once back in Woods Hole we got our last seafood meal in and hit the road. I have to says Martha's Vineyard was absolutely beautiful. Although it was kind of cold, we got to see everything and had a great time with the in-laws. It was on the way back that things got interesting.
While on the road back home, Nick got a phone call from our neighbor saying that there was water in our shared hallway and her apartment, but she wasn't sure where it was coming from. She let us know she had called the fire department and I told her to feel free to go into our place to see if it was us. Well, it was. Yup, our hot water heater had gone in the middle of the night and our apartment was flooded. She let us know it had gotten into all rooms but the living room and that the fire department had shut off the heater and our power and a plumber was going to come to drain the remaining water in the heater since it was still flowing. I mean 50 gallons of water had to go somewhere!
By the time we got home, I had already filed a claim with our insurance and had a crew there on site to start pumping the water out. When we walked into our place, we were a bit shocked. Our floors were all buckled and our bedroom carpet was like a bog. But to be honest it just didn't seem as bad as I thought it would be. Which was nice, I think. After the crew left we got an update and were informed that we would now need all new wood floors, new carpet, new vanities in both bathrooms and a new ceiling in one bathroom. Oh and that we should probably move out!
So as of Monday, Nick Hailey and I have been living in a hotel about 1.5 miles from our place and I have been on site managing the clean up for the every day since. Hailey is loving that she has her own bed and getting used to taking the elevator every day. But man hotel living can be boring! I am just trying to think of it as our old one bedroom apartment.
But there are some silver linings.
Here is some of our stuff drying outside when we got home:
Hailey hanging outside while I manage the dry out. It was cold so I had to bundle her up a bit:
Hailey enjoying the spoiled life. I think we may end up having to buy her a real bed when we move back in. I am not sure she will be willing to go back to the dog bed:
And there you have it! Now I am going to finish my sandwich and hit the gym! Nothing else to do, right?
We spent the weekend sightseeing and stuffing ourselves with lobster, chowder and all things seafood. Seriously, I made sure to incorporate fish into every meal. I even opted for a bagel and lox for breakfast when we ate it. On Saturday I woke up a bit sore and decided if I was going to spend the day walking around, it might be a good idea to give my legs a break, so I opted out of my Zone R run and figured I would just get it in on Sunday.
Sunday we were up and at em' nice and early to catch the early ferry back. Once back in Woods Hole we got our last seafood meal in and hit the road. I have to says Martha's Vineyard was absolutely beautiful. Although it was kind of cold, we got to see everything and had a great time with the in-laws. It was on the way back that things got interesting.
While on the road back home, Nick got a phone call from our neighbor saying that there was water in our shared hallway and her apartment, but she wasn't sure where it was coming from. She let us know she had called the fire department and I told her to feel free to go into our place to see if it was us. Well, it was. Yup, our hot water heater had gone in the middle of the night and our apartment was flooded. She let us know it had gotten into all rooms but the living room and that the fire department had shut off the heater and our power and a plumber was going to come to drain the remaining water in the heater since it was still flowing. I mean 50 gallons of water had to go somewhere!
By the time we got home, I had already filed a claim with our insurance and had a crew there on site to start pumping the water out. When we walked into our place, we were a bit shocked. Our floors were all buckled and our bedroom carpet was like a bog. But to be honest it just didn't seem as bad as I thought it would be. Which was nice, I think. After the crew left we got an update and were informed that we would now need all new wood floors, new carpet, new vanities in both bathrooms and a new ceiling in one bathroom. Oh and that we should probably move out!
So as of Monday, Nick Hailey and I have been living in a hotel about 1.5 miles from our place and I have been on site managing the clean up for the every day since. Hailey is loving that she has her own bed and getting used to taking the elevator every day. But man hotel living can be boring! I am just trying to think of it as our old one bedroom apartment.
But there are some silver linings.
- We didn't lose any personal items. Score!
- We did just renovate the kitchen and nothing got ruined there. Point for us!
- We had wanted to do the floors all along, so in the end we will end up with the floors we always wanted. Another point!
- They are working to find us a temporary apartment so we don't have to order out every night for the next two months.
- There is a gym in the hotel, so I can go workout when I want to? Am I grasping? Ok maybe.
Here is some of our stuff drying outside when we got home:
And there you have it! Now I am going to finish my sandwich and hit the gym! Nothing else to do, right?
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Running and Celebrating
Yup the title pretty much sums up how I spent last week. I ran at least 8 miles a day and did some good celebrating. The first item up for celebration was Nick's birthday. On the 3rd, Nicholas finally joined the ranks for the thirty-somethings and for that we ate and drank to our heart's content. We went out to our favorite "special occasion" restaurant in town and had a delicious dinner and some prosecco. Once we were so full we thought we would burst we headed home to curl up in bed and digest in a nice coma.
The rest of the week was filled again with tons of running. Whether it was speed drills, Zone 1 runs or long runs, I was running at some point every day. Then came the weekend. We had a friend's engagement party down in Columbia, Maryland to celebrate and our 1 year wedding anniversary.
We headed down to Baltimore on Saturday, after a nice morning run and decided to stop and get some lunch. After lunch we headed to Columbia to our hotel to meet up with our friends. The celebration was actually a haunted hay ride following by a bonfire and a buffet of delicious food. Knowing that we had more the celebrate the following day, we went light on the booze, heavy on the food. By midnight we were beat. So we said our goodbyes at the hotel and headed to bed, while the rest of the party headed out to a local bar.
The next morning we packed up and moved onto our final destination, Annapolis, Maryland. We figured since we were already down there we should spend a night by ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. And as luck would have it, Annapolis was not only hosting us, but they were also hosting a boat show in the Inner Harbor. We spent the day, having cocktails and touring these amazing yachts while pretending that we were of course in the market to buy one. Well obviously, why would be at a boat show otherwise?
After the boat show we found a local bar and watched some of our football game and then headed over to a restaurant called Buddys to eat some crabs. And boy did we eat some crabs! We asked what the "normal" order would be and then we ordered double.(of course we did) We spent the next two hours cracking and laughing and then headed back to our hotel for a night cap.
Once morning hit, we headed home to grab the dog and eat some wedding cake. Yes, like tradition says, we saved the top of our wedding cake to eat 1 year later. Our top layer of cake was a carrot cake and to be honest I wasn't quite sure of how it was going to end up. We had moved it from the freezer to fridge on Saturday to start the defrost and by Monday night it was ready to go. And I have to say, it tasted pretty damn good! The only bad part is now we have a huge carrot cake to eat. ( I know my struggles are just too unfair!)
And now it is back to reality. This week again will be filled with a ton of running. But I must say with this more relaxed/clean lifestyle I am now trying to lead, I don't really mind it! Well, I hope everyone had as fun of a week as I did. Now it is back to the grindstone!
The rest of the week was filled again with tons of running. Whether it was speed drills, Zone 1 runs or long runs, I was running at some point every day. Then came the weekend. We had a friend's engagement party down in Columbia, Maryland to celebrate and our 1 year wedding anniversary.
We headed down to Baltimore on Saturday, after a nice morning run and decided to stop and get some lunch. After lunch we headed to Columbia to our hotel to meet up with our friends. The celebration was actually a haunted hay ride following by a bonfire and a buffet of delicious food. Knowing that we had more the celebrate the following day, we went light on the booze, heavy on the food. By midnight we were beat. So we said our goodbyes at the hotel and headed to bed, while the rest of the party headed out to a local bar.
The next morning we packed up and moved onto our final destination, Annapolis, Maryland. We figured since we were already down there we should spend a night by ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. And as luck would have it, Annapolis was not only hosting us, but they were also hosting a boat show in the Inner Harbor. We spent the day, having cocktails and touring these amazing yachts while pretending that we were of course in the market to buy one. Well obviously, why would be at a boat show otherwise?
After the boat show we found a local bar and watched some of our football game and then headed over to a restaurant called Buddys to eat some crabs. And boy did we eat some crabs! We asked what the "normal" order would be and then we ordered double.(of course we did) We spent the next two hours cracking and laughing and then headed back to our hotel for a night cap.
Once morning hit, we headed home to grab the dog and eat some wedding cake. Yes, like tradition says, we saved the top of our wedding cake to eat 1 year later. Our top layer of cake was a carrot cake and to be honest I wasn't quite sure of how it was going to end up. We had moved it from the freezer to fridge on Saturday to start the defrost and by Monday night it was ready to go. And I have to say, it tasted pretty damn good! The only bad part is now we have a huge carrot cake to eat. ( I know my struggles are just too unfair!)
And now it is back to reality. This week again will be filled with a ton of running. But I must say with this more relaxed/clean lifestyle I am now trying to lead, I don't really mind it! Well, I hope everyone had as fun of a week as I did. Now it is back to the grindstone!
Monday, October 1, 2012
A Weekend on My Feet
What a weekend is all I have to say! Over here in New Jersey we have been making an effort to keep our weekends as low key as possible. On Friday we made pasta, with pesto, artichokes and squash and settled in for our normal movie night. We watched Wunderlust, which I have to say was really funny. I wasn't sure what to expect but there is some good dirty humor in that movie! After passing out on the couch at 9pm we finally woke up around 2am to make it to bed. And that was our fun family Friday!
I got up nice and early on Saturday to head out for a 1:10 Zone 1 run. I had to do it at the gym because it was still dark and I get a little creeped out running around the city alone in the dark. So I hit the treadmill for some easy 9:13 min/miles. After my run I had to run home for my new green breakfast shake (recipe from a friend) and a shower so I could head to a good friends bridal shower. I also convinced Nick to indulge in my shake, (1 pear, 1 banana, handful of spinach, handful of Kale) and while he didn't hate it he just couldn't figure out how to rate it. Mind you I made him have it for breakfast all weekend, so now he has to love it, obviously! I mean it is beautiful, you have to love it just based on the appearance.
After bridal showering for a few hours, I headed back home and I was beat. I made a spaghetti squash casserole, had a glass of wine and was in bed again by 11pm. Total party animal, I know!
On Sunday it was back on my feet nice and early. I had two 1:15 Zone 1 runs to get in. Now here is where it gets interesting. I think there is something seriously wrong with my garmin, I am guessing I may need a new battery in my chest strap, so maybe not seriously wrong, but my HR monitor was going crazy for the first run. I was everywhere on the map. So I decided to just stick to a 9:21 pace, since I had no idea where I really was.
After my run we threw some meatballs and sauce in the crock pot and headed out for some apple picking. We ended up with a nice 25 pounds of booty and headed back to the house for meatballs, football and another run. Another 1:15 Z1 with the same HR monitor problems. So this time since I was a bit tired, I stuck to 9:23min/miles. I guess I will have to change that battery soon.
This week I am back to running every day with no biking and a tiny bit of swimming. I am interested to see how this will effect my pacing for the marathon and also to see how my legs fare. Tonight I am going to invest some time in a nice salt bath and try to get to bed nice and early.
How was your weekend? Spend a lot of time on your feet too?
I got up nice and early on Saturday to head out for a 1:10 Zone 1 run. I had to do it at the gym because it was still dark and I get a little creeped out running around the city alone in the dark. So I hit the treadmill for some easy 9:13 min/miles. After my run I had to run home for my new green breakfast shake (recipe from a friend) and a shower so I could head to a good friends bridal shower. I also convinced Nick to indulge in my shake, (1 pear, 1 banana, handful of spinach, handful of Kale) and while he didn't hate it he just couldn't figure out how to rate it. Mind you I made him have it for breakfast all weekend, so now he has to love it, obviously! I mean it is beautiful, you have to love it just based on the appearance.
After bridal showering for a few hours, I headed back home and I was beat. I made a spaghetti squash casserole, had a glass of wine and was in bed again by 11pm. Total party animal, I know!
On Sunday it was back on my feet nice and early. I had two 1:15 Zone 1 runs to get in. Now here is where it gets interesting. I think there is something seriously wrong with my garmin, I am guessing I may need a new battery in my chest strap, so maybe not seriously wrong, but my HR monitor was going crazy for the first run. I was everywhere on the map. So I decided to just stick to a 9:21 pace, since I had no idea where I really was.
After my run we threw some meatballs and sauce in the crock pot and headed out for some apple picking. We ended up with a nice 25 pounds of booty and headed back to the house for meatballs, football and another run. Another 1:15 Z1 with the same HR monitor problems. So this time since I was a bit tired, I stuck to 9:23min/miles. I guess I will have to change that battery soon.
This week I am back to running every day with no biking and a tiny bit of swimming. I am interested to see how this will effect my pacing for the marathon and also to see how my legs fare. Tonight I am going to invest some time in a nice salt bath and try to get to bed nice and early.
How was your weekend? Spend a lot of time on your feet too?
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