Fatal error

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting since Tuesday. My beautiful sleek black HP laptop has decided it doesn't want to log onto the Internet and this lovely message about my Windows Sockets not working and fatal error continues to pop up. Womp womp. I'm bringing my computer home to VT this weekend to see if my dad can fix it.

I'm now happily logged onto Gregs computer.

Wednesday was a very busy day, but I still managed to get in a treadmill workout of 6x800s. It was tough, but I pushed through it. I was sweaty and bright red by the time i was done.

Yesterday was also busy but I managed to get in a nice run with Stacy. I ran into Central square to meet her, and then we ran 4 more miles while a few hill repeats through in on the back of Beacon hill. Challenging, but so much more fun with a friend!

Today is a rest day! Yay!! Still figuring out what I am going to run this weekend, but its bound to be better than last weekend when I didn't run AT ALL! Ugh, still feel bad about that one!

Anyhow, the real fun of this post is that Amanda has tagged me in11 things, so now I'll entertain you with funny questions and my random answers!

1. If you had a super power, what would it be?
I would choose to fly I think. Only so I could travel more than I currently am able to with flight prices getting pricey!

2. What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who don't turn on their blinker when they drive. Also, people who drive and pay no attention to bikers.

3. Where are you going on your next vacation?
Not sure. I might head to Ohio for a race, but I'm not sure if that is "vacation".  I actually think I could use a vacation soon! Suggestions anyone?

4. You find out you get to appear on The Food Network with a celebrity chef of your choice.  Who do you pick, why, and what do you make?
Bobby Flay. He seems so down to earth and very smart. I am sure I would learn tons from him! I would want to learn how to cook a few simple meals that Greg and I could cook in 30 min or less with tons of flavor!

5. Someone gives you $1 million to spend in one month and you have to spend it all at the end of that time.  What do you do with it?

Register for races for the next 2 years!
Say GOOD BUY to my student loans
Sent my parents on a vacation
Send my sister and her BF on a vacation
Maybe go visit my brother in Africa!!


6. Dogs or cats?  (Or other type of preferred pet?)
Dogs! 100%

7.  If money wasn’t an issue or factor, what would be your dream job?
Physical therapist and maybe some health psychology work on the side.

8.  You get to meet one former president.  Who do you pick and why?
Roosevelt. I admire how hard he worked to end the Great Depression.

9. Backstreet Boys, ‘NSYNC, or 98 Degrees?
NSYNC. I love their Christmas music.

10. What was the last movie you saw in theaters?
The Lorax

11. Who did you pick to win the NCAA March Madness Tournament?
I didn't do a bracket but I want Ohio State to win!
Happy Friday everyone!!

Planning ahead

This past weekend I was home in VT. I had a 3 mile run planned for Sat and a 10 min run planned for Sunday…I didn’t do either. I’m slightly embarrassed that I couldn’t force myself out of the house to run, but I also had a headache which made me feel like my head had a heartbeat for most of the weekend ( I.E throbbing). 

Sunday I had every intention of going for my 10, however it was raining and cold when I woke up…so I waited, and then I went shopping instead. What a running role model I am huh?

This week is back on track. No messing around. I need these not runs so I can survive the full. I think my body was just tired and overworked the past few weeks so I figured in the long run I might have done it a favor by not pushing it.

Now I’m back and ready to roll. This concept includes registering for a few more races before the big kahuna the end of May.

Options:

Capital City Half Marathon May 5^th. - I ran this race in 2009 as my very first half EVER! I had no idea what I was doing and I  ran for fun and to finish. I’m really tempted to go back and see what I can do on this flat fast course now.

Cox Providence Rhode Races Half Marathon May 5^th – I’ve never done this one before and its cheaper and easier to get to than Ohio. Both are great reasons to stay local. 

Not sure which I'll end up with, but I think I NEED a race to look forward too. Has anyone done or plans on doing either half?

I also looked into the Flying Pig in Cincinnati the weekend of May 5-6, but flights were pretty expensive so I'm not sure it's going to be an option.

Also, I found a 20 mile race up in VT that I think Matt and I will both do as a training run for the full. It’s the 3rd Annual Adamant 20 Miler Run or Relay up in Montpelier VT. I’m pretty sure we will do this one as long as nothing crazy happens with our training.

I think I needed races to keep me pushing myself and to keep myself interested in long runs, especially when the weather can’t make up its mind between summer and winter!

This week looks like this:

Tue: run 5 miles, spin, strength train

Wed: Hills ( with Stacy) and 6 by 800s ( probably on the dreadmill)

Thurs: spin and 5 miles

Fri: rest/yoga

Sat: 8 miles

Sunday:21 miles

I might end up switching this week with the following week as I think I will be home in VT again this coming weekend and its tricky to find 21 miles worth of running around where I live. I might try it anyhow. Anyone else going to be in Southern VT and want to run?

.Happy Tuesday everyone!

D.C continued

Sorry there was such a long time in between posts. I had a very busy work week since I was gone Friday and Monday for the trip to D.C!

Back to D.C:

Saturday night we went out to dinner around 7:30. We decided we wanted this to be our fancy meal of the trip so we headed up to K street. I don’t remember the name of the restaurant, I’ll have to ask Greg and get back to you, but I thought it was great.

The only downside was it seemed our server was fantastic while we were ordering our food, but as soon as we had made our decisions ( some based on HIS recommendations) he seemed to stop caring about us. He never once came over and asked how our meal was and we had to flag him down for dessert orders. Aside from this, I was very happy with our food! Matt had steak which he loved, Greg had crab cakes and I chose salmon. Since I had ran a zillion miles and then walked a bunch more I was in the mood for dessert. I don’t usually get dessert when we go out because I am usually too full but this time I was full and STILL wanted desert!

I ordered the coconut creme brulee which I was pretty excited for! The downside? Due to Saint Patricks Day the pastry chef decided it would be fun and festive to put green food coloring in my desert. This was okay for the outer area of the dish, but towards he middle the color became darker and very unappealing. I didn’t finish my desert, partly because I was full and partly because it just looked horrible and became unappealing very fast!

After dinner we met up with Emily, Amanda runningonwaffles, Her fiance Matt and their respective parents. We grab a quick drink before grabbing a taxi home. We were exhausted!

Sunday morning I woke up and headed down to the gym in our hotel to stretch and walk a little on the treadmill. I was pretty sore in my quads and knew I should stretch and move them a bit.

We headed out to brunch before starting our day at the museums. We went to the air and space museum first and then the Newseum ( museum of news). The air and space museum was great. The artifacts and the exhibits were fun and we found ourselves doing the interactive space adventure before we left. Greg and Matt were more adventurous than I was and chose to do a simulator that strapped them in and spun them upside down while they tried to shoot down other air craft ( at least that what I think they did). I found myself doing a simulator with a family of 4. Two kids, and their parents. Ours was a simulated take off and landing in space  ride. It was actually pretty fun but less intense than the one that Matt and Greg chose.

After Air and Space we grabbed a quick lunch before heading to the Newseum which I loved! They had pieces of the Berlin Wall and lots of exhibits of news throughout the years. I was fascinated. We ended up spending close to 2 hours walking around and reading.

After our museum time was up we met up with my college friend Krista for a drink before crashing for the night. It was great to see her and reconnect! I really miss her and was so happy we were able to meet up!

We left D.C Monday afternoon so we spent Monday morning running and site seeing. It was great weather and nice to see the sites one last time before we left.

This past week has been a busy one. My training schedule was all mixed up. It looked a little something like this…

Monday: 4 miles

Tuesday: Spin and 3 miles

Wednesday: Strength train, spin, and 4 miles ( loooong day)

Thurs: Spin and 4 miles

Friday: 5 miles.

Sat: rest

Sunday: I am supposed to do 10 miles today so hopefully the rain clears up soon so I can make this happen, otherwise its getting pushed to tomorrow.

Again, these are spin classes that I teach, not chose to take. Its great cross training, but it makes my legs pretty tired some days.

Happy weekend everyone! Sorry for the ridiculously long post!

Expect the unexpected.

So much to say!

I think bullet form is the best way to attack this post.

Lets back it up!

*Thursday:

 I taught spin and ran 4.5 miles. It was supposed to be 5 but I ran out of time and had to scurry home. The run felt pretty good and I have added some new music so it’s really helped.

Carrie Underwood – good girl

Christina Aguilera – show me how you burlesque

Train – drive by

Just to name a few…

I also got a massage and went to family dinner on Thursday. The massage was a deal I found online for 39 dollars for 60 min. It was wonderful. My body had been really tired and sore all week so having someone work on my back, shoulders, and calves was just what I needed.

We got home late from family dinner and I quickly packed before bed.

*Friday:

Friday morning I woke up early to train 2 clients before heading to the airport at 8:15am. It was then off to D.C!! Our flight was easy and carefree, however I heard that the flight from Boston to D.C that left an hour after ours ended up with a significant delay. So strange. Once we arrived, we took a cab to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and then headed out the door to the Rock N Roll USA expo! The expo was about 2 miles from our hotel so we decided to walk it and explore a little. The expo was good, but nothing wonderful. The highlight might have been walking towards the compression leggings booth and having the guy take one look at Matt and mutter something like “he will be an easy sell” to his co-worker. Needless to say, we didn’t buy anything from him.

We headed back to the hotel after we explored the expo for an hour or so. It was raining by then so we took a cab. It was around 5 by the time we made it to our hotel, so we ordered pizza, and relaxed in the hotel room knowing we had an early morning on the horizon.

*Saturday:

Matt and I woke up around 6:15 knowing that we wanted to head out the door around 6:45. I was supposed to do 17 miles Saturday so I convinced Matt to run to the start line with me to get a few added miles in. We jogged the 2 miles to the race start and got there with plenty of time to spare. I was supposed to be in corral 8 but we ended up in corral 9 I think…either way, we crossed the start line about 11 minutes after the first wave.

Matt and I didn’t run together so when we crossed the start we said good buy and good luck with plans of how we were going to meet up at the end. I stayed behind Matt for a little while before the crowd made it really hard to stay near him.

We saw Greg around mile 3 which was a great surprise and I needed to get rid of a long sleeve shirt so I was happy I could give it to him and not just ditch it on the side of the road.

I ended up needing to pee (TMI?) pretty badly around mile 4.5 so for the first time ever in a race I pulled off to a porta potty and waited….and waited….and waited. 

Lesson number 1 : look at map prior to race so you know where these porta potties are in an attempt to cut down on waiting time. In all honestly after a few minutes I thought about finding a tree but there was nothing close by. 

After my turn was over I scooted right back into the race and continued on my way, annoyed that I had lost precious time, but figuring I could make some of it up if I pushed.

Then, around mile 8 life got interesting. There was a man ahead of me who was running and looked fine, until suddenly he didn’t. He was sorta of wobbling back and forth and I wasn’t sure what was happening. I knew he was too big for me to catch if he fell so I helped him over to the side and had hit sit/lay down. I hung out with him, trying not to burst into tears until the med crew got there. Not fun! I think he was ok, but I’m still not sure what happened to him. I think he was just over heated? I was off to the side of the road for a good 15 minutes I think. I was pretty freaked out and it took me a while to get mentally back into the race. I finally finished with my slowest half time yet, 2:30 but given my unexpected stops I’ll take it.

Matt and I found each other and then tried to jog the 2 miles back home. By this time, we were both pretty tired, hot, and sore so we managed to run/walk home adding on another mile of running total. This brought both of us up to 16 miles for the day.

After we got to the hotel, Greg met us in the lobby and we headed up to the room to shower and change before grabbing food at the West Wing Café near our hotel. It usually takes me a little while to get my appetite back after a race so I ate half a sandwich and some fruit.

After lunch we proceeded to walk all over D.C! I would say we easily walked 6-7 miles. We saw the white house, the monument, the war memorials, Lincoln, and China Town, it was a busy day! Matt and I were pretty exhausted by the end, but Greg had gone exploring while we were racing so he knew where to go and he also got in quite a workout.

I’ll leave this post here for now, and fill you in on our race night dinner, drinks, and our Sunday and Monday adventures tomorrow!

I'm off to find a race to redeem my crummy time and attitude towards racing at the momemnt.

Happy Monday everyone!!

In the 8’s

Yesterday turned into a very busy and very active day!

I taught spin in the morning and then had a little break before a few clients. During this break I received a frantic phone call from the man who is in charge of group exercises where I work and he begged me to teach in Davis as a sub for a Pilates class.

 I don’t know Pilates…any of it, so I said I would if I could instead teach a core and body weight class. He said that was completely fine and thus added on to my already packed day. Since I needed to get a 5 mile run in I figured I would run to Davis and back to equal 5. 

This is where things get fun! I had a wonderful run! The weather was amazing, my music was good, and I found myself running around 8:44-8:50 the whole time. I haven’t seen an 8 at the beginning of my pace in a while and I was beginning to wonder if marathon training had slowed me down. I think it has made my legs and body tired, but with foam rolling and stretching I can bounce back!

After this core class I had a few more clients, worked 2-6 and then taught another spin class. This last big of exercise was my fault. I thought I was supposed to teach it today instead of yesterday for some reason and realized at 6pm that my spin class started at 6:30. Cue made dash to the club to make it in time. I think I would have ditched the run if I had remembered that it would be a 2 spin class kinda day.

When I got home I was starving, I had picked up ingredients to make a peanut noodle dish, but Greg was tired and hungry too so we went with Thai takeout. I rambled on and on to Greg about how hungry I was and how much food I planned to eat. In the end, I didn’t even finish my pad Thai order. They put A LOT in those little containers. I did however, leave room for some Hershey Kisses…. or 12.

We relaxed for the night and tried to take it easy since our coming weekend in D.C will most likely be filled with walking and sight seeing and hanging out with friends! Oh…and running in my case.

Today is kind of a dreary day. I had some early morning clients, came home fell back asleep for about an hour and now I am running a bunch of errands before my next batch of clients. Somewhere in there will be a 5 mile run however it might be pretty slow given what I put my legs through yesterday.

 Hopefully they forgive me before Saturday RnR USA half! Happy Wednesday everyone! Weare half way through the week!!!