Fridays are for Doughnuts

I woke up at 6:50 this morning, for absolutely no reason at all. It was pretty dumb.

Buddy thought so, too.

We got more snow overnight, not much, but enough to cover up the dirty old snow and make the yard look pretty again.

Since I was up anyway, I hit the store early. I may have had an ulterior motive.

The store was nice an empty compared to the pre-"blizzard" shopping the other day, much more peaceful.

I semi-successfully ran this afternoon. I taped my ankle and started out walking for the first mile. The next 3 miles were ridiculously slow, but not terribly painful. Plus, finishing a run, no matter how slow, was really good for my mental health. Cutting a run short is brutal, mentally.

I spent some time with my legs up the wall after my run, and have been icing my ankle.

Come on, recovery!

I'm still trying to figure out what's wrong with my ankle. It's not a running pain that I'm familiar with. I assumed that since it was fine during my long run on Sunday and then it had a few rest days (sick days) that it would be ok, but I was clearly wrong. It does seem to be getting better than it was though, so fingers crossed that it keeps improving!

I'm making Slow Cooker Sesame Garlic Chicken with rice and roasted broccoli for dinner. It smells really good and it's making me hungry.

What's for dinner at your house?

All I Want To Do

There was more house action today - two people came to see it! That means I spent some time this morning cleaning (our tile instantly gets dirty the second you finish cleaning it, it drives me crazy) and Buddy and I had some time to kill outside the house this afternoon.

I finished early but I didn't want to mess anything up, so I was laying on the floor. Buddy was confused.

We went to the Rockefeller Preserve to walk around for a bit. The trails were pretty well packed down, and some sections were plowed.

The lake is officially frozen.

When we got home I tried to jump back to my training plan, which maybe wasn't the smartest course of action. I was going to do a tempo run (6 miles including warm up and cool down), but I stopped after 2 miles, which was really frustrating - there may have been some ankle pain...maybe. I hate when my body won't do what I want it to.

All I want to do is on this shirt:

Is that so much to ask?

I've been stretching/foam rolling, and I iced my ankle after my run. Just to be annoying, it doesn't hurt at all right now. We'll see what it's doing tomorrow.

You know I'm going to try to run.

Getting Better and New Music

It's crazy how much being sick takes out of you.

My fever finally went away this morning, but my appetite isn't back full force yet, and my energy levels are laughable. Everything I did today took forever. Tom reminded me that I spent pretty much the entire day yesterday on the couch, so I shouldn't expect to be in top form just yet.

Patience is not my strong suit.

I did manage to accomplish a few things today, they just took longer than they should have. I did the dishes (in 15 minute increments because I kept getting tired), two loads of laundry (I even folded it and put it all away!), and walked the pooch (what? that's an accomplishment, I didn't go outside yesterday).

Since I'm not interesting at all today, I thought I would share a couple new (to my playlist) songs.

One Republic - I Lived

Mark Ronson + Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk

And this is just a really cute video - Andy Grammer - Honey I'm Good

Hope you're having a good week!

Snowpocalypse 2015?

Oh hey, sorry for the silence the last couple days! I woke up Monday morning feeling a bit "off" and things went downhill from there. I had a fever all day and zero energy. I basically did nothing other than walk the dog in every coat I own (chills!) and pick up Tom at the train station. Everything pretty much shut down yesterday afternoon/evening because of the snowpocalypse we were supposed to be getting (the forecast at one point called for 20 inches!), so he came home early.

Before I was out of commission, I hit the grocery store for dinner things while everyone else in town was buying everything in the store in case the snow storm turned into a zombie movie. I have never seen the parking lot so full!

The funny thing is that we ended up getting about 4 inches of snow, if that.

I'm still pretty much couch-bound, the fever is lower but definitely sticking around.

Fun fact of the day: Buddy loves cuties, but knows he shouldn't beg. So when I'm eating cuties, he sits a respectful distance away and stares at me until I call him over.

It's a compromise.

A Long Run with Watermelon Everything

I'm exhausted. I really shouldn't complain about it, because it's my own fault, but I just thought I would share that fact with you.

We stayed out way late last night and then Buddy decided to wake me up a little after 8am so he could have breakfast. He's kind of a brat like that. He chowed down and then snuck back upstairs to go back to bed before I could make him go outside.

After a lot of coffee, water and a bagel, egg and bacon sandwich, I dragged myself down to the basement for my long run.

I debated finding something new to watch, but decided to watch Mean Girls again instead. It's such a funny movie!

Considering how late we were out, my run felt great! I snacked on a GU and had some of my favorite Watermelon Nuun to keep me running.

I ended up finishing my 11 miles in 1:46:07, about a 9:38 pace. My ankle didn't hurt at all, which made for a really nice run.

I was feeling good when I finished, slurped down a protein smoothie while I iced my ankle (just in case), and then I got really tired.

We're supposed to get a bunch of snow in the next couple of days, they're not sure how much just yet, but possibly more than a foot. I'm kind of excited about it, even if it means more treadmill time. You know I not so secretly like my treadmill anyway.

Tell me something fun about your weekend! :)

Snow Day and Trying Not to be a Lazy Slob

I was having a weird dream about running a race this morning. It was weird because part of it was running on roads, and then some stretches were run on a treadmill. I had someone handing me water while I was on the treadmill though, so that was nice.

My alarm went off at my Saturday usual 6:45 and I could see snow out the window. We were expecting a couple of inches (no big deal), so I got my running gear on and grabbed a cup of coffee. Then I really looked outside.

I wasn't so much worried about the roads as the trails. I don't mind a few inches, but this was a little much for me to run in.

After a one cup of coffee long debate, I decided to stay home. I'm bummed since I missed my run last weekend, I was really looking forward to seeing my running group this morning (though apparently only 2 people showed up). I'm also bummed because this means I'll be running 11 miles on the treadmill tomorrow. Any cute movies on Netflix these days?

Buddy was less anti-snow today than he has been in the past.

I even dug out my Xtratufs to take Buddy out. I haven't worn them since we left Alaska, and I forgot how comfy they are. If you haven't lived in Alaska (or worked on a boat), pretty much everyone has a pair of these there, they're awesome. I'm sure I'm making all my neighbors jealous with my super fashionable boots.

Since I'm trying not to be a lazy slob on days I don't run, I found a YouTube channel with a bazillion free videos - BeFit. It's pretty awesome, you should check it out the next time you want to try something new.

Any good Netflix recommendations for my run tomorrow?

Essential Things and Bruising

After running around all day yesterday, today was a much slower pace.

I had a leisurely morning with my beloved coffee and caught up on all the blogs I didn't get to read yesterday.

I went to the store to buy really essential things like molasses (so I could make gingersnaps) and tortilla chips (because they were on sale). It's impossible for me to go to the store and not buy a bunch of random stuff.

My run today was a nice, easy 2 miles with some bad tv (Vampire Diairies, I'm not proud). My ankle is still hurting a bit, but I might have figured out what is causing it.

When I first started skating in roller derby, I had a lot of bruising on my ankles from my skates for the first few weeks (months?) of practice.

Note the ankle brace above, that was for padding, not stability.

I bruise ridiculously easily. I've been wearing a new pair of waterproof boots a lot more lately to walk Buddy, and I think that's what has been irritating my ankle. So, I am taking a break from the boots and we'll see if the pain stays away. I'm also planning on wearing thicker socks the next time I take those boots out.

And since I have nothing else exciting to tell you, here are a couple of cute Buddy pictures to start your weekend off right!

Any exciting weekend plans?

Babysitting, Cleaning House and Speedwork

Holy cow, I'm tired.

I got up at 6am and haven't stopped moving until now.

This morning was spent babysitting a sick baby/toddler (she's between ages, I think they've decided to call that age "wobblers" now). Most of the time she wanted me to carry her and the rest of the time she was either laying on me, napping, or playing with the remote.

I got home, took Buddy for a walk and wolfed down some oatmeal for lunch. While I was babysitting, someone called to make an appointment to come see the house. We are not as good as we should be about keeping the house clean between showings, so I had quite a bit of work to do.

Buddy hid from the vacuum and I got a nice stair workout in moving things upstairs and down to the basement.

Since it was dark by the time the people came to see the house (and I didn't feel like going anywhere), Buddy and I just walked around the yard (for almost 40 minutes) while we waited for them to get there/leave.

Buddy had a great time smelling everything and really wanted me to let him go chase something that was in the bushes.

Once we were back inside, it was finally time for me to hit the treadmill for some speedwork.

I ran a 1 mile warm up, 3x1 mile with 800m jogs, and a 1 mile cool down - 6 miles total. I did my first two miles at 8:13 and the last one at 8:06. Not a bad place to start this training cycle at!

I was so happy to get through my workout since last week's speedwork was aborted.

Now we're relaxing with some beer and tv. I have a feeling it's going to be an early night.

Red Curry, New Workouts and Fun Mail

I made super tasty red curry for dinner last night. I pretty much followed this recipe and added cooked chicken, broccoli and a bag o spinach.

It's SO good! We eat it over rice and topped with chopped peanuts, green onions and some toasted coconut (because I randomly decided to toast coconut yesterday).

I'm back to my training plan, which means no run today. I have speedwork on Thursday, so I wanted to save my legs. The other day I was reading a blog (I can't remember which one) and they were talking about Fitnessblender. 

Fitnessblender is another video workout site and as an added bonus: it's completely free! For real.

Since I want to be able to rock my run tomorrow, I didn't want to do anything too crazy today. I ended up finding a core/back workout that was a nice, easy workout. It made me focus more on form and muscle control.

I'm actually thinking about doing this after a run, I think the stretching and core work would make a really nice cool down.

I also did a quick arm workout.

Buddy was more than ready to go upstairs by the time I finished.

I got fun mail today! 

I pretty much live in this purple sweatshirt, so (with the help of a Christmas gift card) I decided to get another one in a different color.

I got this one in black. 

I also grabbed this tank while I was at it.

Merry Christmas to me! 

What's the last fun mail you got?

Back to Normal

I was having weird dreams and woke up at 7 for no good reason. Boo.

I'm getting into a routine now that Tom's back at work - my morning consists of coffee, breakfast, dishes, and a trip to the grocery store for dinner things. That's because I'm incapable of planning meals any further in advance than that.

Yesterday I told Tom I didn't want to start my run because I was afraid I was just going to have to stop again right away. I felt that way again today. There's almost nothing more frustrating than having to cut a run short because you're in pain.

Fortunately, the icing, stretching and compression socks seem to be working, because I got back to my training plan today with no pain - I win!

3 easy miles with a little stretching at the halfway mark.

Followed by some push-ups as today's #NoExcuses challenge with Sweat Pink. It takes a whole new set of skills to set up my phone and use the self timer to get these pictures.

I even elevated my feet for a bit after my run, and Buddy pouted until we left the basement.

He always turns his head away when I turn my phone camera on - brat.

Just in case it affects anything, I put the mat back under my treadmill today. We didn't bother with it when we moved it to its new home, and I'm wondering if it's creating more impact than there would be with the mat down. It certainly can't hurt.

I'm so happy to be feeling back to normal - there's nothing like having to rest an injury to make you want to run!

Race Sign Up and Running Again!

I was amazingly lazy on Sunday. We had freezing rain pretty much all day long, and I spent most of my day researching races, reading blogs and watching tv.

Freezing rain is dumb.

Buddy was terrified while Tom cooked dinner, so I threw his blanket on him. He stayed like this for about an hour.

He has such a rough life.

The result of all my race research is that I'm now officially signed up for 3 half marathons!

West Point Half Marathon - March 29th
Rhinebeck Hudson Valley Half Marathon - May 16th
Walkway Half Marathon - June 13th

The Rhinebeck and Walkway races are new, it's the first year for both of them. I think I have run more races in their first year than I have run established races. I have never been signed up for more than one half marathon at a time, it's weird for me to be planning my entire year of racing at once.

I'm almost 100% decided on a marathon, but registration doesn't open up for most fall marathons until April, so we'll see if I'm still stuck on the same one come April.

I ran today!

I haven't run since my painful, aborted tempo run last Thursday. My ankle has been feeling a lot better, and I took it slow. I did a legitimate warmup (which I don't always do) and stopped to stretch (and do some mountain climbers for the #NoExcuses challenge) every mile. I ended up running 3.13 miles in 30 minutes. I'm just happy that I got to run!

And yes, I iced after I was finished.

Hopefully this means I can get back to my training plan this week.

Buddy did as much adventuring as his leash would allow this afternoon. I think he was just happy the temperature was above freezing.

Do you plan your race schedule for the year all at once or do you like to play it by ear?

Not this year

Those of you that follow running news probably already know that the lottery for the NYC marathon opened up this week.

Up until a few days ago, I was planning to throw my name in and see what happened. But I got to thinking about how much money it would cost to run NYC (it's a $255 registration fee), and it even costs a little bit to put your name in the lottery ($11). There are a lot of other options nearby when it comes to marathons, and most of them are at least half the price of NYC. So at least for this year, I'm ok not sitting around in the cold for hours and hours before the race, and running with a completely scary number of people and paying an obscene amount of money for the privilege to do so.

So I'm still on the lookout for a fall marathon to sign up for - I've got time.

Friday was a slow day for me. I spent some quality time with my ice pack and watched a cute movie - The Other Woman.

I spent the evening babysitting and making some money. I didn't get home until almost 12:30.

I still don't know what this stuff was, but thankfully, it wasn't real nail polish.

A 3 year old with real nail polish would be terrifying. This stuff just wiped right off, which is good, because she painted half her foot with it.

My ankle is still sore, but it's definitely feeling better. I skipped running with the group this morning, which bummed me out, but it was the smart thing to do. I may attempt a little dvd workout action today (and obviously stop if it hurts). We'll see.

For now, I'm off to find some food.

I hope your weekend is off to a good start!

Did any of you enter the NYC Marathon lottery?

I was smart for once

I'm really grumpy.

I woke up kind of grumpy, but I was making progress up until my run. It was supposed to be a tempo run, but I only made it through my warmup and the first mile at tempo. My ankle, which was feeling tight and a little off earlier this week decided that it definitely does not want to run.

The thing is, I don't remember doing anything to it. The best I can figure is I might have twisted it at some point on Monday or Tuesday. I noticed it was a little off after my run on Tuesday, but it was nothing to cause concern. Today on my run there was definite pain.

For once in my running life, I was smart, and stopped. I'm giving it a couple of days off and hopefully it will feel better. At least it's happening now, and not closer to my next race.

In happier news: I made brownies today!

I kind of made them up and can probably never duplicate them, but they're really good. They are dark chocolate brownies with a peanut butter cream cheese swirl type thing and mini chocolate chips (for good measure).

I sliced a million brussel sprouts without cutting myself on the mandoline I got Tom for his birthday. That's because I wore the gloves that he is too cool for.

Dinner tonight is going to be those brussels with bacon, roasted butternut squash and pork chops. Now I just have to stop myself from eating ALL the brownies so I will still want dinner! :)

Are you a recipe follower or do you prefer the trial and error method?

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I don't like grape-flavored things

I don't know why I bought this. I like grapes, but I generally don't like grape-flavored things.

This was not an exception. The grape flavor was really mild, but had a bit of a fake grape aftertaste. Not my favorite.

I have discovered that the grocery store is not busy at all if I go a little before lunchtime. And I actually remembered to put gas in the car before the light came on. It's the little things, be proud of me.

I was really excited at how cheap it was to fill the tank - it's been a while since the number was that low!

Since the weather was decent (read: the wind chill wasn't -4) I took Buddy for a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon.

He enjoyed smelling everything and staring thoughtfully into the distance.

My right ankle decided to randomly be really tight today. I don't remember hurting it, but I've clearly upset it. Rather than do nothing, I gave my arms a good strength training session. I did 3 sets of 15 reps of pretty much every exercise ever (ok, there were 17). I found this list to give me ideas and keep me from doing a few bicep curls and stopping.

Not like that's ever happened before...

I made beef stroganoff for dinner tonight. I mostly followed this recipe from Gimmie some Oven. It turned out really good - though I accidentally went a little pepper-heavy.

Do you like grape-flavored things?