Happy thoughts

Happy Wednesday everyone!

This morning I was up bright and early for a 5:45 client. I worked until 11 and then waited around until 12 when I had a running date with Stacy! Yes, that’s right – STACY! Our lives are finally back in sync and we will be running together as much as possible. Last week was crazy with me due to Physics and she was really busy with work, it felt great to run and chat again. 

Yesterday I taught spin and then busted out a 5 mile run. Remember how last week I mentioned that running after spinning wasn’t as bad as I had though? Well, this week it was tough. My legs were tired and my body was resenting the first and last mile of this run.

 Regardless I made it through and even took a chance on a hilly loop I usually love in the summer. Its feb, and I still love it. Yay!

After spinning and running, I had a few clients and then dragged myself to the library with the intent of becoming a hermit until my 6:15 exam. I lasted about 3.5 hours before I needed a change of scenery. I headed home and studies on the couch for another hour or so before taking the dive into my phsics exam. It was tough. It was long. It is OVER. Thank goodness.

On to happier thoughts. This weekend is the Hyannis Half Marathon! Its Sunday and I am super excited!

 A few friends from work at the gym are running it, as well as Stacy, and my roommate Matt! Its his very first race! I am so so pumped for him! Stacy and I are heading out later to see what we can find in terms of bright colored shirts or pants for the race. 

Stacy is faster than I am, so I asked her if she would pace me if I decide to “race” Hyannis. Otherwise, I will just treat it as a long run and try to maintain around  a 9:30 pace. 

Also today involved a splurge to get a salad from the salad bar at wholefoods. 

It wasn’t that expensive, around 5 dollars, and I was happy I did it. In my salad was a kale salad mix (garlic, oil, nutritional yeast) carrots, cucumbers, barley, black beans, and peppers. It sounds random, and it was, but it was really filling and full of iron – something I am trying to get more of in my diet these days! Double win for a great salad and added vitamins!

I’m off to get some random odds and ends done and then off to City Sports with Stacy to find obnoxiously bright colored clothing for the race! I love races, and running, and friends, and life.

Enjoy your afternoon!

Just keep running...

This morning I woke up early to bust out my 12 mile run. I headed out the door a little before 8 and cruised along on a mapped out 12 mile run. The first 6 miles were great and then I got a little lost.  I’ve done this same run before and knew that finding Washington street in Watertown was a little tricky but I thought I remembered it, especially after looking at gmaps pedometer before I left this morning.

 Turns out I didn’t Bremen and I got a little lost. I asked directions from a lady I saw getting out of her car. Unfortunately she  gave me the exact opposite directions I needed. Needless to say I added about 1.3 miles onto my run. I didn’t realize it was that much until I got home and figured it out on gmaps. So my 12 miler turned into a 13.2 miler. I’m not even going to lie, I was tired and my calfs were feelin’ it. This was the first time I had run 13 miles since october when I ran the Hartford Half. Best race EVER btw.

After my run I came home for about 20 minutes before I had to get over to work for a client. I grabbed a missto from Starbucks and off I went. My client was great and it was really fun to train her today because she brought one of her best friends to work out with her. Great motivation for both of them.

I came home and needed food. ASAP! Greg and I made grilled cheese sandwiches and I actually didn’t even eat my entire thing. My stomach is still not feeling 100% so I ate about ¾ of mine before giving it to Greg.

I then got to work on Physics and took a quick break to go to Harvard sq with Greg. We were on a mission  to get more ink for our printer. I had about 3 thousand pages I needed to print for physics studying so this was critical.

Upon coming home I got right back to work on Physics. Unfortunately this is going to be my life until Tue at 8:30pm.

Since this is rather boring I thought I would take some pictures of things that made me happy today.

And what made me unhappy….

Matt and I signed up for the Black Cat 10 miler in Salem in March! Yay!!

Black Cat Road Race 

This week for running looks like this…

Monday : rest

Tuesday : 5 miles ( 3 at race pace) and spin

Wed : 4 miles

Thurs : 5 miles and spin

Friday : rest

Sat: 7 miles

Sunday: Hyannis half marathon…plus one mile.

35 miles this week. Lets do it!

Stress cleaner

I didn’t go to yoga yesterday like I said I would. I had every intention of going, and then I had every intention of getting a yoga dvd from the library but alas, I failed at both. Ugh, one of these Fridays I will pull myself together enough to go to yoga. I may just have to order a yoga DVD to have at home so I really don't have any excuses.

On a side note about yesterday I discovered something about myself which I am sure everyone in my family already knows, I am a stress cleaner.

I spent a solid 2 hours yesterday cleaning everything. I  washed dishes, scrubbed and swept the floors, cleaned the bathroom, did laundry, and cleaned off all of the wooden tables and accessories in the apartment. I actually really enjoyed it and felt o-so-much better when I was done. Sometimes cleaning can be very cathartic.I've been pretty stressed the last few days so I was in need of some outlet for my built up tension.

Last night Greg, Matt, and I headed out to dinner  to the Thirsty Scholar. Its been a few months since we have been there for dinner and we were pleasantly surprised. It was pretty good. I ordered the thirsty scholar salad that had chicken, steak tips, spinach, and peppers. It was really good, but it was waaaaaay more than I could eat. I would get it again, but maybe split it with someone.

This morning I babysat and then had a 6 mile run on the schedule. I met Stacy and one of her friends in Central after babysitting and ran 3 miles into Davis sq with them, and then ran around in Davis a bit before heading back into Central. I Google mapped it and I guess it ended up being 6.8 miles. I’ll be happy when I get my Garmin back. I'm not opposed to running a little extra, but it will help me figure out my pace once I can check in with my watch.

I spent most of the afternoon studying for physics while Greg took a nap. He wasn’t feeling well and was complaining of a sore throat. After studying for a few hours we headed to Trader Joes where I proceeded to feel sick. Ugh. I feel better now, but I plan on going to bed early tonight. I cant afford to get sick before my exam on Tuesday.

I made pasta for dinner because my stomach was still a little wonky and I needed the carbs for my 12 miler tomorrow. After my run, I think tomorrow will be spent much like today….with physics. Yuck. 

Hopefully a good nights rest will make both Greg and I feel better. On that note, I’m off to relax before heading to bed earlier than most elementary school children.

Lesson of The Week

Sometimes things don’t go as planned. This is the lesson I’m taking with me this week. I don’t think every week needs a lesson, but I am happy to oblige when one comes around.

After my Garmin broke on Tuesday I knew google pedometer would become my new best friend. I usually have a rough estimate of where I am going to go and how far it is, but without my watch I’m lost at exact distances. 

I mapped about a 4ish mile run yesterday to do after I taught spin. I thought the transition from spin to running would destroy me, but it didn’t feel bad. Again, I could have been running 10 min miles for all I know but it felt semi-speedy. I finished feeling good and happy. 

I like the feeling of spinning then running. I dont usually do the workout as hard as I teach it. I tend not to increase as much as I instruct the class too, more because I need to be able to talk and yell and I don't want my legs to fall off then I try to run after. Its great cross training and endurance training though.

 I ran a route that I usually avoid when its cold because it crosses two bridges that go over the Charles River but I felt the need to push myself a little and risk freezing. It was only 30 degrees. I didn’t freeze. In fact, I felt warm by the time the run was over. Thank you Craft running pants with fleece liner!

I spent most of yesterday with clients and finishing my physics lab that was due. The fun never ends huh?

Last night was family dinner. I feel like I say this every week but I really love family dinner. Its so nice to see everyone and we always have stories to share. Last night was our friend Adam and his roommate Kates turn to host and cook. Pizza was on the menu and it was fantastic! Adam said he picked up the dough from Trader Joes. I was suprised by how good it was. The next time we make pizza if I decide not to make my own dough I’ll definitely head to Trader Joes! 

I brought over dessert. Mini brownies, raspberry tarts and macaroons. I didn’t make any of them but I figured it was a good mix depending what people were in the mood for. I thought I liked macaroons but I wasn’t such a fan of the ones I picked up at the store last night. I may try to make my own sometime and see if I like them any better.

I have a few more clients today and I will be sure to fit in an easy run with Stacy ( I haven't seen her all week!) I also am going to make it my mission to go to yoga. No excuses. Play like a champion!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you have fun weekend plans… I think I do! 

Sad Garmin

Yesterday was a busy day.

I started out by teaching spin. This was the first time I had subbed for this particular class and I was pretty nervous. The previous instructor for the class is a great guy who knows a ton about running and cycling. He teaches his class more like a real outdoor ride with the focus on making the members become better real life riders. He is a phase rider and tends to stay in the saddle much more than I would when teaching.

Knowing this, I tried to create a class I thought fit both what the class was used to, and my style as well. I started the class with some hill climbing and then moved onto a spirit workout. 15 sec sprint, 15 sec recovery X3 and then a minute break. Onto 20 sec sprint, 20 sec recovery X3 then a minute break and so on until we were up to 30 seconds.

 This was a hard workout and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I will do my best to incorporate more steady state and endurance type workouts for this tue class as well.

I also teach class on Thurs morning, but it is more of a interval and endurance ride.

After teaching class I had a few clients and headed home quickly to eat something. I headed back to the club around 11 for another client and a great strength workout. Pull ups, pushups, single leg straight leg dead lift with a bar ( 75 pounds total) and then a combo of box jumps, burpees and overhead kettle bell swings. Perfect sweaty combo.

I headed to work at 2 and then onto physics class. It was unfortunate that physics class was also valtines day this week, but you do what you gotta do right?

Class was pretty good this week. I like what we are learning and I think I am starting to understand more and more. There was a “couple” sitting a few rows in front of me and I noticed that they took turns napping during class. One would nap while one took notes and then they would switch every 30 min or so. Very strange. I can’t imagine they learned much.

After class I came home to flowers and snickers bars! I had asked Greg Tue night for a snickers bar for V-day. I think he thought I was joking, but that’s really all I wanted. They used to be my FAVORITE candy bar, and I figured I might be craving one after a long lecture. 

I was semi-correct. I was hungry, but I quickly filled up on dinner Greg had made. At least I have a reserve supply of Snickers which I am sure won’t last too long!

This morning on the agenda for running was 4X800s I headed over to track after a few clients. Unfortunately I have no idea what my times were since my poor gamin decided to bite the dust this morning. So sad, so very sad!

I did however, call Garmin and they are going to send me a new one as soon as they receive my current one that I’m sending back. Thank you, Gamrin for being super helpful and nice!

Anyhow, 4X800s did happen. It felt good, hard, but good. I ran the .7ish miles to and from the track as my cool down/warm up. Done and done.

Now I’ve got physics on the brain. Lab report due tomorrow so it looks like the next 24 hours of my life will be very structured and planned. I like it, I would be lying if I said I didn’t.

Happy post Valentines day everyone!!