NYC Half Marathon Lottery and Primal Sport Mud

Last month, I threw my name in for the NYC Half Marathon lottery. I'm nowhere near fast enough for a guaranteed entry, so running with a charity or the lottery are my only options. Since I don't really have time to be fundraising for a charity while I change careers and move, for this year, the lottery was my only option.

The drawing was today, and I went back and forth about whether I wanted to get in or not. I didn't really want to spend $128, but it would be a really fun race. If I ran the NYC Half, then I wouldn't run the Sleepy Hollow Half again - they're a week apart, and I'm not quite that crazy yet.

I finally got the email a little before 7pm - my name didn't get picked.

I'm torn between the "Boo! I never win anything!" feeling and being completely ok with it. It's not a race I've been dreaming about for years or anything like that, and this way I'll be able to run the Sleepy Hollow Half with my Saturday morning crew.

My ankle was a little tight this morning.

Ok, it kind of hurt. I've been careful with it today, lots of ankle rotations.

Naturally, as a runner, I had to see if it hurt when I ran (we're smart like that). It didn't. I ran a rather pleasant 3.5 miles at an 8:29 pace.

And then I iced my ankle.

Then I remembered this Primal Sport Mud that I got in a RunnerBox a couple of months ago. It seemed as good a time as any to give it a try.

The directions say to put on a layer of mud, cover it with plastic wrap, and keep warm/heat for 20 minutes before you rinse it off.

Fortunately, I found my awesome corn-filled heat pad the other day. Perfect timing.

My ankle does feel more relaxed now, though that could just be from the heating pad. I guess we'll see how it feels after a few days of mudding.

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Peanut Brittle: Round 2

Sunday started off strong. I did dishes, laundry, filled the dog food, bought dish soap, ran, wrapped some Christmas presents and cut a box apart to make it a smaller size (Brian, if you read this, please excuse the really weird box when it gets there).

Then I had lunch and didn't want to move again.

I didn't want to run. I mean, I wanted to run, but it was one of those days where it's really hard to get started. I ended up running 3.5 miles and feeling infinitely better when I was done. As usual.

I have been dropping everything lately. My phone, a coffee mug (with coffee in it), the cap for the milk, the remote - nothing is safe in my hands. Surprisingly, nothing has actually broken yet, but if the trend continues, it's only a matter of time.

Round 2 of peanut brittle was MUCH more successful!

Look how golden and delicious it is!

I paid more attention to the color of the sugar this time around, and I'm really happy with how it turned out! Now I just have to try not to eat it all.

Today's run was going to be a longer one. That was the plan. So of course, nothing went right. My shoes were bugging me, so I swapped them for another pair. I took it as an opportunity to pull my new PureFlows out of their box - they've been in the closet for months!

It still didn't feel right. Nothing felt bad, just off. I took more breaks than I would like to admit, but after 6 miles (of warm up?) I finally felt good and polished off my 7th mile feeling great. Bodies are weird.

65.2 miles until I hit 1,000 miles for the year!

A gloomy run and dressing up

My alarm on Saturday felt extra early for some reason. It was raining and gloomy out, but at least it wasn't as cold as it has been the last few weekends.

We had a decent group for our run, though most showed up late. I guess the gloomy morning got everyone off to a late start. On the bright side, the rain let up for most of the time we were running.

I actually remembered to start my Garmin this week, so that was nice. We ended up covering 6.57 miles at a 9:05 pace, which wasn't bad because the humidity was so high we were all having a tough run. It's weird to think about humidity when it isn't hot out, but it definitely makes a difference.

After digging through a few bins in the basement I realized I got rid of my semi-dressy coat when we left Alaska. I never wore it in Kodiak, go figure.

We braved the absolutely insane shopping crowds (and terrible drivers) and ended up getting a black pea coat from Old Navy. It isn't what I was looking for, but it was nicer than wearing my everyday coat, plus it was on sale.

Then it was time to go from this:

To this:

I don't have pictures from our fancy dinner, cell phones aren't allowed at the country club we were at. There was a ton of delicious food. Appetizers, dinner (we both had prime rib) and a huge table of desserts. Yes, please!

We did get a picture of us all dressed up, mostly because my mom kept insisting that I needed to send her a picture.

See? I don't always wear running clothes! ;)

A Slow Morning and a Peanut Brittle Fail

I had grand intentions of springing into action at a reasonable hour this morning. Instead, I spent most of the morning drinking coffee and catching up on blogs.

We also watched Peter Pan Live, which we recorded last night. It wasn't amazing, but it was cute. We both questioned Christopher Walken being cast as Captain Hook. I really like Christopher Walken, but he was kind of spacey for most of it.

Buddy was psyched as usual to join me in the basement for my run.

My run today was a shorter and slower one, a conscious decision.

I've found if I am running a specific distance, that I tend to go faster than I plan on because faster = over sooner. But I know there are times I need to run slower. On those runs, I run for time. No matter how fast I run, I can't make time go any faster, it helps keep me in check.

All fast all the time is bound to lead to injury sooner or later.

I made my first solo attempt at making peanut brittle today.

It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I followed the directions rather than following my instincts (I've helped my Grandma make peanut brittle for years) and it ended up darker than I wanted it to. Tom says it's not, but it tastes burnt to me.

I'm planning on getting more peanuts and trying again this weekend.

Instructions be damned.

Target Triumph and Wrapping Presents

I went to one of my favorite stores today.

I even managed to not spend an obscene amount of money! Winning!

I discovered the other day that our holiday wrapping paper from last year was down to scraps. I picked up a few rolls so I could start wrapping things. The tree looks better with things under it! :)

I also picked up a few things for my niece's birthday (she'll be 3 next week!) and Christmas cards, which I will maybe actually get sent off before Christmas. Maybe.

Oikos has weird new flavors of Greek yogurt. Naturally, I had to try one. It was not visually appealing, but it tasted pretty good!

Buddy pouted while I ran this afternoon. 6 miles at 8:22 pace with the last mile at 7:32!

When I was finished running, Buddy only let me take one shoe off before he decided he needed to sit with me.

Silly dog.

Truck shopping and Babysitting

The other day, Tom decided that he wanted to buy a truck. Since then, he sold his Subaru, and we've been driving all over the place looking at trucks. Like, 229 miles of all over the place. 

Today we drove down to New Jersey and Tom found the one. 

He's pretty excited.

I spent some time babysitting a one year old yesterday afternoon. One is so much easier than 12 toddlers! Plus, check out their sweet ball pit:

I squeezed in a short run when I got home. Not my best run ever, but I got it done.

Tonight I had a much better run, just a little longer, but I felt so much stronger and faster than yesterday.

Buddy was really excited for me.

So excited that he wouldn't hold still for me to take his picture.

I'm chipping away at my 1,000 miles goal - 91.6 to go!

November running recap and house hunting news

I can't believe it's December already!

I hit 142.8 miles in November! It's safe to say I've never run that much in a month before, so I'm pretty psyched about it. I'm extra excited because I have managed my mileage/speed well and have been injury-free!

That also means I am 103.9 miles away from my goal of 1,000 miles for the year. Totally achievable!

The morning started in the usual fashion (coffee), made a bit more festive by the tree.

Did I tell you we have an offer accepted on the old white farmhouse? It's contingent on the sale of our townhouse, but they've accepted our offer! We've been watching a lot of DIY network shows and thinking about/planning all the things that need to get done once it's ours.

I ran 5 miles on the treadmill (I can't help it, if I'm running alone, I sort of prefer the treadmill) this morning.

Nothing terribly exciting, another episode of Gilmore Girls with Jess stirring up trouble. I actually really liked Jess before he turned all jerk-y, he mixed things up!

And actually, after my run this morning, I'm down to 98.9 miles. Double digits!

Buddy feels like he hasn't been on the blog enough lately.

We'll work on it.