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.

Apparently, I'm Awesome

Speed work seems to be paying off!

I had a tempo run on the schedule for Tuesday, and I was not feeling it until over a mile in. Once I got going, I started to feel better, and ended up having a strong run.

Look what a warm up mile can do for you:

As a side note: my brief moment of tank top weather is over. It was snowing in my face on Tuesday and absolutely pouring this afternoon.

I had 3 easy miles on the plan for today, and it seemed like the rain was letting up, so I hit the road.

The rain did not let up. There were a couple of good downpours while I was running, but you can really only get soaking wet once, and then it doesn't matter so much.

You would think that drivers would use a bit of common sense (pouring rain = water on the road = maybe slow down as you drive by a runner), but only one car actually slowed down as they passed me.

Thanks neighbors.

We do have one nice neighbor who informed me that I'm awesome as I ran by her in the rain. I'll take it.

I hit up my yoga mat and reintroduced my legs to the foam roller after I got home.

I did not miss the foam roller, in case you were wondering. 

On a happier (than foam rolling) note: I have definitely noticed an increase in flexibility since I started doing yoga consistently at the beginning of the year. It's pretty cool. 

Weekend Wrap-up

How was your weekend? Mine went too quickly! Don't they all?

All was right with my Saturday morning again, because this week I was with my people! I went back to my usual group and had a great run on the trails. 

For some reason, my legs really tightened up on the drive home

Buddy tried to get into his bed by himself. He wasn't very successful.

I did my yoga by the fire and got in Buddy's face. He always manages to look away right when I take pictures.

Yoga camp was super relaxing on Saturday - seriously, there was a pillow involved. I like having yoga camp to get in everyday - it helps me actually stretch after my runs. It doesn't matter how many books/articles I read, I still can't get myself to stretch regularly.

We had crazy amounts of rain today, absolute downpours. The last clouds brought insane winds and tons of rain, and then they were suddenly gone - leaving blue sky.

We started watching Making a Murderer on Netflix today. I'm surprised we got anything done. Have you watched it yet? It's completely insane/frustrating/maddening.

What was the best part of your weekend?

My Computer is Dying

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy. 

I was all settled in to finish up a post this afternoon when my computer froze. Again. And the Blue Screen of Death popped up. Again.

That's the second time this week - definitely not a good sign.

So, I may be looking for a new computer pretty soon. Any suggestions?

In other news, Buddy can almost get into his new bed on his own. The opening is a tiny bit small for how tall he is (we probably should have bought the extra large size), and he can't quite figure it out. If we hold the top open for him he goes right in.

It was cold and rainy for my run today. I pulled out the capris, a long sleeve half zip and my super bright vest so cars wouldn't hit me. The speed limit in our neighborhood is 30, but people go way faster than that.

Tom went to his man club meeting (it's actually a rod and gun/hunting club, but I prefer to call it the man club) tonight, so I made myself a couple of little quesadillas for dinner. I was lazy and just mashed up some black beans, added some pepperjack cheese and threw them on the grill for a few minutes. Super simple, and pretty tasty!

I even managed to not burn them!

I'm completely in denial about how soon Steamtown is getting. I've been saying it's 3 weeks away for a while now, and it's actually a week from Sunday! Time to start race day weather stalking...

Hopefully my computer will behave itself this weekend so I can do a little blog catch up.

One of THOSE People

Lately, I have been missing my weekend running buddies, and the beautiful trails we run on. I have looked into closer running groups, but all the meet up spots are about a half hour drive away. So why not tack on another 10 minutes to that drive and run with some of my favorite people?

This morning I woke up early, wolfed down some coffee and an english muffin and hit the road to meet up with the group. I didn't tell anyone I was coming, so it was fun to surprise them!

The skies were cloudy and I hit a few showers on the way down, but it's supposed to be the hottest weekend ever (or the hottest weekend of the year so far, whichever) so we were a little surprised when, about a half mile into our run, the skies opened up and we were caught in a complete downpour! There was a bit of thunder and lightning and a LOT of rain and mud, but we were already soaked, so we just kept going.

We got a good laugh out of the fact that I woke up early to drive 45 minutes so I could run in a thunderstorm. I'm officially one of those crazy runner people!

It was really nice to get to see everyone again, though one of our usual group was home with an injury, so it was a bummer to miss seeing her. The drive really wasn't so bad, and it felt really good to be on the trails instead of on the road all the time.

6.89 miles at 9:09 pace according to my watch. Not bad considering our less than prime weather conditions!

I wasn't expecting the rain, but luckily I had a rain coat in the car (and a dry shirt!), so I sat on that for the drive home. My seat still got wet, but probably less than it would have otherwise. Next time, I'm bringing a towel, regardless of the weather report!

Unrelated, but how cute is this dog?

I hope your Saturday is off to a great start!

Marathon Training Week 1

I am officially through my first week of marathon training! And I've already strayed from my training plan. Oops!

My summer running clothes somehow have no pockets, so I've had to get creative with my house key.

Monday: Monday was supposed to be a cross training day. I had grand plans to dig out my Piyo and, you know, actually cross train. But instead, I spent the entire afternoon at the laundromat, adding more and more quarters to the dryer that just didn't want to dry anything. It was fun.

Tuesday: 3 miles on the agenda, and I ran 3.14 @ 9:36 pace around the neighborhood in the 83 degree weather. It was humid, and I was not happy.

Wednesday: 5 miles. It was less humid than Tuesday, but still around 80 degrees out. I actually carried Nuun with me (I hate carrying things when I run) and finished my entire water bottle before I got home. 5.17 miles @ 9:48 pace.

Thursday: 3 miles. It was only in the upper 70s and it felt amazing after the heat of the last few days. 3.16 miles @ 8:58 pace.

Friday: Rest day! AKA yard work ALL day.

Saturday: 5 mile pace run. I wanted to keep my pace around 9:00, and the weather was on my side. It was in the mid-60s with a light rain - pretty close to my favorite running weather. 5.06 miles @ 8:59 - success!

Sunday: 6 mile "long" run. Ok, so here's where I messed with my training plan a bit. We're going to the lake house next weekend for the 4th, and while I don't mind getting out for some shorter runs while we're there, I'm not about to run the 11 miles that were planned for next Sunday. I swapped Sundays and mapped out a loop around the house for this afternoon.

It was more than a little rainy and much more than a little hilly (running in new areas I have no idea what to expect when it comes to hills).

The loop that I made ended up being 10.23 miles by the time I got back to the house, so I ran past the house (naturally) and ended up running too far before turning around (because math is hard after 10 miles). I ended up running 11.17 miles @ 9:53 pace.

As you can see, I am not good at deciding when to turn around, I always end up running more than I intend to. I'm feeling really positive about putting in my miles with the heat and the hills - watch out Steamtown, here I come!

Running in the Rain

I have still not started packing. I did, however, make brownies, which is really more important in the short term if you ask me.

Yesterday I was determined to run outside. And then it was raining and I got lazy and ran inside. Today I was determined to run outside again. And then it was raining again. But this time I sucked it up and dragged myself out the door to hit the trails.

Very few people thought it was a good day for visiting the park.

But you know what? Once I just accepted the inevitable (getting completely drenched), I had a lot of fun! There was only one other crazy person out running the trails, so it was like having the place to myself.

I ran a little over 5 miles in 47:07 - I'm pretty happy with that considering the puddle dodging, mud, and hills.

Luckily I had the presence of mind to bring a towel with me to keep my car seat dry for the drive home.

This wussy dog was shivering after his last walk, so I brought out his blanket and he's much happier now, regardless of the look on his face.

You would think it was the middle of winter the way he's burrowing.

Do you like running in the rain? What's your favorite running weather?

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?

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?