Not Much Else

I had some major plans to do stuff today. I got the dishes done early and braved the Sunday grocery store madness before noon.

And then I did a whole lot of not much else.

My Saturday long run (10 miles) went much faster than last weekend because I was running with my running group. I don't really feel like I'm running a half marathon next weekend, but apparently I am.

I don't know what to expect from this race, because I haven't run a half since September. I'm hoping I will be able to keep it under 2 hours, but the first long race of the year is always unpredictable.

In other news: this is what you should do with any and all St Patrick's Day leftovers - corned beef hash! Tom made it on Saturday. It was delicious and I wanted more.

Buddy has been really busy lately.

He actually has a new trick of digging things up in the yard and eating them. The old owners had a really big garden in the middle of the yard that was overgrown and crazy when we moved in. We cleared it all out, but a few things have popped up (like random asparagus stalks). I'm pretty sure Buddy found some kind of radishes and he's been ripping up the yard to get to them.

I got these fancy shoe laces on Kickstarter (I should not be allowed on there) and now I'll never have to tie these shoes again.

The rest of our corned beef leftovers (we deliberately made a ton) are going to be turned into reuben sandwiches for dinner tonight.

Rocks and New Shoes

The days have really been sneaking by lately!

I haven't been reading my usual blogs, and I haven't been posting. I don't really know what has been keeping me away, but I just haven't been spending too much time on my computer this week.

A few highlights (and lowlights) for you:

I ran my long run solo on Saturday. I have been running with people for long runs lately, and let me tell you, 11 miles go a lot faster with friends. My watch randomly had a GPS glitch that it mostly corrected. At about 7 miles it said 5.8, a couple of minutes later it jumped up to 7.3. One of my mile splits was under two minutes. Yeah, that seems right...

We ran out of oil for the furnace on Saturday. I discovered this fact when I went to take a shower after my run. We were having dinner with our neighbor so I couldn't not shower. I took the coldest shower ever and tried to keep most of my body away from the water while I washed my hair.

On Sunday I was randomly possessed by a yard work maniac and spent at least 5 hours digging up rocks and cleaning random bits of glass and other trash out of one of the giant rock piles in the yard. Now it's a smaller giant rock pile and it isn't full of garbage.

It was a nice night, so we had a little fire in the fire pit.

Buddy has been loving the warmer weather we've been having, because it means we hang out in the yard when I get home from running.

I got new shoes today. I ordered them the other day and I was delaying my run until the mailman came. They're Brooks Launch 2s - the 3s are out now, so the 2s are on sale - they were really comfortable right out of the box and I didn't have to adjust them at all on my run today. We'll see how they do on some longer runs.

What are your favorite shoes right now?

Super Lazy

This may seem strange coming from someone who runs, but I'm really a naturally lazy person. Just ask my mom.

I am perfectly happy to curl up on the couch with a book or my laptop and not move all day. I don't even feel guilty when I do it either.

It's not the most productive way of living, so every day is a series of negotiations with myself over random things. It's usually along these lines:

I don't want to do that

Will you want to do it later?

Probably not. 

Does it need to be done?

At some point...

Just do it now and get it over with.

Fiiiiiiiine

It's all very mature, but at least I can generally get things done when I need to. This tendency is also part of what motivates me to sign up for races. I like running, I wouldn't keep running and racing if I didn't, but even things I like to do can fall victim to my default laziness.

Tom has been working in the city this week, and when he's gone I tend to be super lazy about meals. I'm the queen of the snack-a-thon - I'll just have a little of this and a little of that until I'm full. I'm pretty impressed with myself because I haven't done that this week. I have actually cooked something every night.

Not that I have anything against cereal for dinner, because I don't.

A few meals from this week:

This is not attractive, but it was delicious: rice with bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, broccoli and chicken.

Burger! (I would happily eat a burger every day) and some mostly successful potato wedges/fries. Considering I'm working without an oven they turned out pretty well!

Tonight was avocado with a side of chicken fajitas. Avocado is the best.

Do you have a food you would be happy to eat every day?

Hot Stuff

Not to complain, but it was too hot for my run today.

Ok, so it was really only around 65 degrees, but I need a little more of a transition period to get used to warmer weather.

I had a tempo run on the plan and wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pick up any speed at all until a little over a mile in. It was weird to be running in shorts and a tank top again. If you don't count my amazingly slow first mile, I averaged an 8:47 pace. I'm always happy with any time that starts with an 8.

Buddy and I hung out in the yard for a bit after I got home. I was too hot to go inside.

I don't know why Buddy looks angry in this picture. He's been loving all the sunshine we have had lately.

My first half marathon of the year is coming up quickly! It's the Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon, which is a little over two weeks away. You can read my recap of the 2014 race HERE. It was my first half in NY and I basically trained on the treadmill. It was before I joined my weekend running group and before I gained any speed.

It is a fairly hilly half, so we'll see where I'm at come race day.

When/what is your next race?

Did anyone get into the NYC Marathon lottery today? I didn't apply this year, I have other possibilities for a fall marathon that I'm considering.

Time

I swear, the more free time I have, the worse I get with time management.

When I'm super busy I somehow manage to get tons of things done. When I only have work until 11am and have nothing else to schedule around, somehow I end up spending a lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing.

Today was busy. I taught classes at two different schools instead of just one. I spent a ton of time in the car, but I also put gas in the car, did some grocery shopping, and somehow convinced myself to go for a run and do some yoga when I finally got home.

Other days I teach and then can barely get myself to run. I'm super productive.

Buddy and I spent a little time outside at lunch. It is warming up around here - it's supposed to hit 70 on Wednesday, which is probably going to feel weird.

I was running as the sun went down, which made for some pretty views. 

My run wasn't fast today, but after having to cut a run short last week, I'm just happy that I hit my mileage without much trouble.

An Early Morning Long Run

My alarm went off early this morning.

Like, 5am early.

After a quick coffee (there must always be coffee) and a bowl of oatmeal, I hit the road to meet up with my running friends to get a few miles in before the main Rivertown Runners meet up at 8.

We got a little over 4 miles in and then hit the trails with the big group. There was a really good turn out today for some reason, (maybe because people have races coming up?) and we had around 30 people for our chilly run. Maybe everyone was fooled by the sunny morning. It's that time of year when you expect the sun to be warm, but it's not quite there yet. Although, it's supposed to hit 70 on Wednesday, so spring is not far off!

I attempted to take a picture right as the trail turned, so instead of seeing all the people ahead of us, here's a few.

11 miles for the morning and other than being tired from my early morning wake up, I'm feeling good. Good thing too, because my first half of the year is only 3 weeks away!

This is my current favorite Yoga With Adriene video:

Ignore the "for weight loss" title - I do. I just really enjoy the flow and have done this video several times this week. I also want Adriene's tights.

Buddy has had a busy day of sleeping. It's impressive how exhausting all that sleeping is!

I have a feeling I won't be staying up very late tonight either.

I'm a LEGEND Compression Ambassador!

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It was SO nice on Sunday! Buddy was pretty psyched. 

Tom has been working on finishing up the back porch roof, and I was put in charge of burning all the scrap wood.

I had an absolutely miserable run on Monday. I felt off (possibly getting sick?) but figured I would feel better after a mile or so. It was supposed to be a 5 mile run, and I cut it short at 3 miles.

Today's run started off in a similar fashion, but fortunately it picked up after a bit. I had repeats on the plan for today, so I ran 9x400m repeats with 400m recovery walk/jogs. Normally I would do a 200m recovery, but since there's a limited flat area in my neighborhood I like to start and end at the same place to avoid hills. A little extra recovery in between intervals never hurts either.

As an added bonus, I was in shorts and a tank top for most of my run (I did start with a jacket) - it was a nice change from wearing all the layers.

I wore my snazzy LEGEND Compression calf sleeves for my repeats. They're seriously the softest compression gear I've ever tried and I'm super excited to rep them at all my races this year as a LEGEND ambassador!

LEGEND not only carries performance socks, sleeves and recovery socks (which have a higher level of compression to speed recovery), they also have business/dress socks and stockings if you can't get away with wearing yoga pants all day ;)

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And this is what happens when Buddy goes into the unfinished addition and then walks on my yoga mat:

At least he looks a little sorry.