New Floors and a Rainy Run

Tom started putting in the hardwood floors in our new master bedroom the other day. They're SO pretty! He finished up most of the bedroom and hallway and will probably have time to get the rest of it finished later this week. 

Buddy does not like all the sounds involved in installing hardwood floors.

He does like when he's allowed on the couch.

This is pretty tasty. The tangerine flavor is subtle, which I like. Some fruity beers taste like juice mixed with beer.

I finally had a successful run on Sunday. I actually felt mostly normal again. It was drizzling a bit when I left, but at mile 3 of 4 the clouds opened up and a serious downpour started. I stood under some trees until it got a little less intense and then did a little speed work for the last mile home. I beat the first rumble of thunder by about 5 minutes.

I tried to take a picture to show how rainy it was, but mostly that's just runoff from the roof since the addition doesn't have gutters yet.

Buddy loves when we have the windows open so he can check out all the smells from the comfort of the living room.

He's pretty cute.

Procrastination, Yoga and Beer

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The school I teach at on Mondays is on their mid-winter break this week, so I had the day off. 

I actually planned ahead for tonight's dinner when I was at the store yesterday (which pretty much never happens). Pot roast and veggies were cooking away in the Instant Pot by 10am. That thing is seriously handy - especially with our limited kitchen and the sub-zero temperatures we've been having.

Negative wind chills just don't scream grilling weather.

Our weather is supposed to be all over the place this week. We were down to -10 this weekend (not counting the wind chill), and it's supposed to be around 53 tomorrow. It snowed this morning and is supposed to turn to rain sometime in the night.

I changed into my running gear this morning and then proceeded to sit around and play on my computer for a while. I can't just head straight out the door. That would be weird.

After about an hour of procrastination, I finally hit the road. It was not warm.

Running in the cold is tricky. I always manage to be too hot in some places, and too cold in others. I kept pulling my neck gaiter down because it would be too much, and then it would freeze, and my face would freeze, so I would pull it back up again.

I have been really good about rolling out my yoga mat lately, even after Yoga Camp ended. Seriously, I've done at least 10 minutes (usually more) of yoga every day this month. I'm convinced it is helping my running and recovery since it is a good combination of strength and stretching - two things I pretty much don't do otherwise.

I had to try this beer. I kept seeing it at the store, and I finally bought some yesterday.

This beer smells amazing, but sadly does not taste as good as it smells. It was ok, but not anything I would buy again. 

Some Randomness and a Movie Night

I've gotten really bad about blogging lately. Between work, random house projects, and marathon training, blogging seems to be the thing that gets dropped first. So today you get a super random update. Aren't you excited?

We got this big (10'x20') canopy for the patio area. Since the grill is pretty much our only way of cooking right now (other than the toaster and the waffle iron), we needed to make sure the weather wouldn't stop us from having dinner.

My Wave Sayonara 2s should really be retired at this point, but I had a super great run in them this week, so today is not that day.

Buddy likes to lay in the narrowest spot in the house. That way you can't go anywhere without him knowing. Don't you love our kitchen floor? It's getting replaced. For sure. And the cabinets...and the counters...most of the kitchen really.

This is a really good, summertime beer. Grapefruit IPA, yes please!

I am a super lazy member of Influester, and somehow managed to get picked for their Sunshine VoxBox. I am pretty excited to try out the Vaseline spray moisturizer, and I have been looking for those sriracha almonds every time I go to the grocery store. I love getting to try out new things for free! (Who doesn't?)

Thursday night we decided to go to a drive in movie theater. Dogs are allowed, so Buddy got to come with us.

He was pretty happy to be invited.

We saw Minions and Jurassic World. Minions was really cute and funny and Jurassic World was way better than I had been led to believe.

There are actually a couple of drive ins near us, so there's a definite possibility that we'll be going again.

Have you gone to a drive in? 

Do you now have the "stranded at the drive in" song from Grease stuck in your head?

How about now?

Go With It

Friday morning I didn't have anywhere to be until noon, so I tackled the dishes that we (yet again) let pile up. Then I was struck by a super random urge to clean more things, so I decided to just go with it. These things don't happen often, so I try to take advantage when they do.

I cleaned the kitchen counter - I actually moved things and cleaned under them (I know, it's madness over here). Then I did some vacuuming and dusting and swept. From the amount of hair I swept up, you would think both buddy and I would be bald (for a short hair dog, Buddy sheds an impressive amount).

We had group nap time (the boys napped, I just relaxed with the pooch) in the afternoon. Buddy is the best lounging companion.

The Rivertown Runners (my weekend running buddies) had a brewery meet up Friday night, so Tom and I went and enjoyed some free beer. It's always funny to see people in non-running clothes. We don't always recognize each other!

This morning I was up bright and early to hit the trails. The weather was just about perfect, sunny and mid-50s. I did not feel like running when I woke up - my cold is really lingering and I had a headache - but about a mile or two in, I was so glad I went. It ended up being a really nice run!

We ran our usual 7 miles, my watch calling it 6.58 miles at a 9:10 pace.

Buddy hung out on the deck with me when I got home.

A nice run, coffee, and sunshine - an excellent start to the weekend!

Race Prep and Lounging with Buddy

Happy Friday!

I was a lazy slob this afternoon. I planned on doing a little PiYo, but ended up being randomly really exhausted, so I lounged with Buddy instead. He was pretty happy.

 He was sleeping like this for a while this afternoon. With his eyes open. Creepy dog.

I laid out running clothes for my trail race tomorrow before I even bothered to check the weather. That seems like a good idea, right? I did check the weather after the fact and I don't think I'll make any changes. 

It's strange for me, but I know pretty much nothing about this race tomorrow. It is being put on by REI's Outdoor School, and I've seen a basic course map, but that's about all I know. Usually I do a lot of research before a race, but since this is a "just for fun" race (and it's a 10k), I'm not too worried about it. 

Several of my weekend running buddies are also running tomorrow, and there's a club meet up at the Peekskill Brewery after the race, so it should be a fun morning!

Buddy is very excited for me, can't you tell?

Any exciting weekend plans?

It was Beautiful

I didn't run with the group on Saturday, partially because I didn't think I would be able to do it, and partially because of this:

I'm not a fan of negative wind chills.

Saturday became a rest day, and we spent a decent amount of time shopping in the afternoon.  Tom was looking for a new coat, and I am on the hunt for some new yoga (pajama) pants. Turns out we're both pretty particular about both of those things. He was successful, I'm still looking.

This morning I geared up for my long run. I stretched. I foam rolled. I used the stick.

I found a knot in my calf (somehow related to the ankle pain?), and it hurt to roll it. I brought the stick down to the treadmill with me and stopped to roll my calf every couple of miles. Other than a bit of tightness (and the pain while I was rolling it out), my 11 miles was pain free.

It was beautiful.

Fingers crossed that I'm past this random injury - I missed running without pain!

We had a snack-a-thon (with beer) for dinner while we watched the Super Bowl. The first course was chips, salsa and guacamole. Round two was a veggie tray, and we finished up with some devil's food doughnut holes.

We planned on having burgers for dinner, but started snacking and quickly realized that we weren't going to be hungry enough for a full meal. Guess we know what's for dinner tomorrow!

Buddy did not care about the outcome of the Super Bowl.

We mostly were torn between which team we disliked more. It was a good game though!

Did you watch the Super Bowl?

Buddy's really excited

Merry Christmas Eve!

Buddy's really excited for Christmas.

I did a short (1.25 mile) run today to keep my running streak going, and used it as a warm up. Then I did a yoga video on Gigabody.

Actually, it was a combination of yoga and strength training (they call it Xen Strength). I liked it more than I usually like yoga, I may even do it again! Maybe.

Now we're headed off to the Captain Lawrence Brewery to try some special holiday beers, and later we're meeting up with some friends for a couple drinks.

This won't look as pretty after tomorrow morning.

Hope you're having a great night and have a fun Christmas morning! :)

An awesome run, mud and beer

I had an awesome run today. I felt great and my ankle didn't hurt at all...while I was running. It tightened up after I was done, but I didn't feel even the slightest pain while I was running.

6 miles at 8:09 pace thankyouverymuch. I'm still a little baffled by how much faster I am than earlier this year.

I realized that I didn't show you the mud yesterday, so here you go. This is what it looks like all wrapped up.

I iced a bit after my run and then got mudded up. My ankle is feeling better, but who knows what combination of stretching, foam rolling, ice and mud is doing the trick. All I care about is that it's starting to feel a little better.

This afternoon we headed to the Captain Lawrence Brewery to check out some of their new beers, because we like beer.

They have teeny tiny tasting glasses, but they're really cute. Plus we took a growler home.

Now I've got a heating pad on my ankle while we catch up on shows that we've dvr-ed. It's a wild night over here, though I guess that's ok, since it's only Wednesday.

One sentence per picture

How Buddy and I spent most of my rest day on Friday.

He still loves the sun, just fyi.

Buddy is the same size as a medium child, in case you were wondering.

Tom did some alterations, and now buddy has a snazzy new vest.

Post-run stretching, Buddy style.

I have been wanting to try this for a while - it's really good!

NY beer with Oregon coffee - how can you go wrong?

This afternoon we are heading over to our friend's house for a barn party. It's supposed to get pretty chilly later, so we're digging out our winter gear. I guess it's that time of year!

I hope you're having a great weekend!

Rainy day in NYC

We finally got our act together and did some of the things we have been talking about doing. It's about time too, because Mom is leaving tomorrow night. 

Yesterday we went to the Captain Lawrence brewery for a few samples.

We also got a couple of growlers filled to go with our dinner.

This morning we convinced Mom that she couldn't come all the way from Alaska and not go into NYC, and took the train into the city.

She liked the train ride.

We had lunch at Lombardi's.

 And Tom taught Mom how to correctly eat NY pizza (for those not in the know - fold it!).

We stopped by the 9/11 Memorial, which is beautiful and extremely sad at the same time.

And checked out One World Trade, which disappeared into the clouds.

Our last stop was the Holiday Shops at Bryant Park. They just opened this week, so we had perfect timing!

We had fun looking through the shops, and I got the waffle I was thinking about all day. If you go to the Holiday Shops, look for the Wafels & Dinges cart and get a Liège waffle. Tom and I get ours plain, but they have all kinds of toppings you can get too. 

So good!

After the waffle Holiday Shops, we walked back to Grand Central for the train home.

As a continuation of our super healthy eats for the day, dinner is going to be Chinese takeout. What? We're on vacation or something. ;)

Have you been to NYC? Do you like big cities?