Sweatpant Sunday
Woke up this morning afternoon at 1ish. Lazy? Yes… much needed though. After my 15 yesterday and being out right after that, not quite recovering I was beat! I think the last week has caught up with me. Luckily this coming week is a slower one – in regards to running and working out. Some speedwork tomorrow and then a few days off to get ready for this weekend and a few longer mileage weeks coming up.
Somedays you just need to chill out. It was soooo nice out this morning and really wanted to go to the pool but just wasn’t feeling it today. Alone time on the couch in your sweats to recoup and reflect is just much more needed sometimes. And I’m not even hungover!
Breakfast on my ‘patio’…
Luckily my apartment is suuuuuper sunny with 3 big windows. So when you are hanging out on the couch it feels like you are outside – pretty cool. Of course the sun went in right before I was about to take this picture…
All About Running
I LOVE when my day is all about running!! And yesterday it was indeed.
SB, making your commute better
First off, I sat in about an hour plus of traffic getting out of the city and on 76. I definitely don’t miss the morning commute and rush hour, but it didn’t bother me too much because I had my coffee! And it’s a different story when you are going to go run than when you are on your way to work. For some reason I like driving somewhere to run, packing my stuff, heading out makes it seem more special I guess? Or maybe I like pretending that running is my job? I wish!! Who knows… I am just weird.
Anyway… had a great run at VF (will post about this later). There are a ton of trails at the park, and I haven’t gotten the chance to hit them up yet. One is I’m a little nervous to go out by myself, just because of crazy people lurking around and also of getting lost. But these bad boys are sooooo hard to resist!!…
trail it up
After the 10miler, I hit up BMRC for some trail sneaks! And other ‘necessities’. Booty shorts (not sure why I got these because I sure won’t be wearing them until summertime. Tan + yellow shorts = perfect summer attention grabber running gear.) Shot blocks which I am starting to like more than Sharkies. A new running long sleeve shirt, and capris.
can't get enough
I happen to also get a text from my friend, Col who had some running questions for me. I heart talking about running, obvi! So of course I sent a 20page text back, and hopefully was some help. The rest of the day was running some other running related errands. Have to go to REI to find my Stingers, and ended up seeing our Brooks Rep there as well. More running chat and I was off to the Doc’s for PT and more ART. Eat, sleep, breathe, R U N…
WORKOUT – yoga class, bike 1 hour, JM (3lbs)
Week Three Plan: Mon:8miles,JM,yoga Tues:bike30mins,JM,bike1hour,yogadvd Wed:weights(5lbs),10miles(hills) Thurs:yogaclass,bike1hour,JM(3lbs) Fri:yogaclass,18miles Sat:3miles(recovery run),JM Sun:6miles,yoga,JM
Christmas in Mehoopany
christmas morning hike
Couldn’t wait to head up to the mountains this weekend. Although… waking up at 5:30am on a Saturday, NOT to run but to sit in a car for 2.5 hours is not my idea of a fun morning. Good thing I stopped and got SB on Friday to re-heat and bring with me. Yes… I am that crazy about my SB. Plus my Dad likes to make coffee half and half (half decaf and half regular) – really? what is the point of that? Anyway, I slept the whole way up which was awesome and we got to the lake house around 10am. Right to bed I went to take a two-hour nap.
packed and ready
Then the outside fun began! The weather was perfect (cold, but sunny and nice out). The only way to hang outside in the winter is to bundle up, drink something warm and hang by the fire. Perfect excuse to invent a new drink. Eggnog, coffee, and rum – heat it up in a mug and you are all set. And here’s a tip – if you want to stay extra warm, add extra rum.
the makings of a warm day
looks warm, but it's not!
merry christmas eh!
Dad and I hung outside by the fire, reflecting on life, playing with the Murphster and taking pictures of “Harry Calloway” – don’t ask. It’s a long story and I wasn’t there anyway so I’m not even really sure how this one unfolded. Although I have a sneaky suspicion it started with a bottle of JB.
harry
I didn’t take too many pictures of all the food this weekend, probably because I ate all of it. But that’s pretty much all we did, ate… hung out, relaxed, laughed.
he just loves dressing up
At night we watched movies on the ‘big screen’ which I’m pretty sure is some type of X-ray equipment set up as a projector. Either way, cool and fun. And apparently also very tiring. Or maybe it was all the cookies.
sleepy kids
For whatever reason I got the great idea that I wanted to jump in the lake on Sunday and do a little polar bear plunge. I had everything planned that I was going to go for a run in the morning, around the lake and then jump in it. Well… woke up Christmas morning and the lake was starting to freeze. Probably better not to get hypothermia anyway. Maybe next year.
ice bath anyone?
frozen
Instead I took Murph out for a hike around the lake. The road turned into a dirt road which turned into a trail, and then a stream? Definitely would love to get some trail running sneakers and come back and do this again soon. I wasn’t sure about which way to go, so I kind of just winged it and hoped for the best. At one point I was a little nervous because there were a bunch of ‘no trespassing’ signs and I was literally in the middle of the woods. If it wasn’t for my little guard dog I would have been a little scaredy cat. Luckily we came to a dead-end and then climbed to the top of a hill and we saw a normal road again. Yay civilization! Sort of. 6.17 miles later and we were back at the house. I WILL be running this next time I’m up there.
murph likes the view
need trail sneaks
Moosehead
matching your hat to your beer - classy
Let’s preface this post with a few things. Warnings, if you will. You ARE going to get really sick of seeing me in a Moosehead baseball hat if you haven’t already. Also, if you aren’t into hickville things then this probably isn’t your cup of ‘coffee’. And if hunting/fishing or the idea of eating anything that you caught yourself grosses you out, then come back tomorrow.
After taking PT on Friday morn (no, I wish it was Physical Therapy) instead it’s Public Trans (we’ll discuss this later), it was off to Mehoopany I went. In the back of the car, feeling like I was about 5 years old again, complete with my backpack and asking “if we were there yet”, and “can we stop to pee”… we finally made it to the Lake house in the afternoon. Not the best weather on Friday but nothing a Moosehead doesn’t cure. Jake picked up a case in town and it came complete with a free hat, which I decided I’d be wearing all weekend instead of doing anything to my hair – much more convenient! Friday night we had an awesome and healthy dinner and played an interesting board game. It’s called Worst Case Scenario – pretty funny actually.
say what!?
It consisted of completely random and off the wall survival scenarios. Most of which you would never encounter in a million years unless you are going on a safari to Africa (Emmy – you might want to look into this) , or you are Indiana Jones. Some however were interesting and could be helpful. Here’s an example of one of the questions. Question: How to Control a Runaway Camel Answers: A.Pull back hard on the reins in a series of sharp tugs. B.Hang on the saddle horn and ride it out. Camels tire easily and won’t run far. C.Yell in the camel’s ear as loud as you can. It’s fear of loud noises should temporarily paralyze it long enough for you to jump off. Which one do you think it is!!? I’m not telling… yet. 
Enter – Saturday morning. The start of a nice gorgeous new day! A little rain on and off and kind of windy but decent enough to be outside and build a fire and other camping things. And how can you not resist an amazing cup of coffee on the dock. Best view ever.
perfect
Too bad my beloved caffeine got cold fast. Re-heating it old school style always works and creates a nice burnt flavor. Seriously, good!
burn it
Campfire time and starting to grill the bass that Jake caught right out of the lake. Ok – so that’s a little bit of a stretch. He caught it a while ago and froze it but none-the-less still out of the lake. Jbird stuffed it with fresh garlic and lemon and poured in some good ‘ol Jim Beam for some added flavor and cooked it on the fire all day.
Jim B makes everything better
grilled to perfection
Jake is definitely awesome at all things outdoors. I’m pretty sure he could survive for a while out in the wild. He needs to have his own reality show.
what year is it? 1811 or 2011
Since the weather wasn’t the best Mom and I decided to do the next best thing then being outside while in NEPA. Go to the winery!! Of course me, being the best blogger ever forgot my camera. Oh well… came home with the most important stuff. New wines to taste. Picked up Gewürztraminer and a Cab Franc. Grovedale is one of my favorite wineries and it’s always fun to get lost on the way and see some of the countryside.
can't wait to drink these
When we got back it was time for ‘pre-dinner snacks’. On the menu – fire grilled bass, fresh (really fresh) venison, pears, cheese, ceviche – from the lake (no lie), salsa and of course wine.
so fresh
I’ll save the gory details about the deer but basically got to see how one is ‘prepared’ right after being shot. I warned you! It was really interesting and very ‘real’ and ‘primal’ I guess you could say. But if we eat meat from the store it all has to go through this process, whether we like to think about it or not. This is just a more natural way, and has been happening for hundreds of years. It’s called survival.
before
- after
gorg
awesome
After watching some amazing sunsets it was time for the real dinner. More meat and some AH-Mazing corn bread that is dangerously addicting. More survival games and that’s about it for the night.
therapy
relaxation
Sunday is always a nicer day because we are leaving and don’t get to enjoy the majority of it. Still got to shoot some cans with the .22LR though. I actually did a pretty good job!! Even by Jake’s standards.
pretending i'm cool
score!
And then it was time to head back into the city. Culture. Shock. Can’t forget one of my most favorite rules of traveling. Always bring a good book and an alcoholic beverage. Grapefruit and Vodka seemed to be a good choice for a Sunday morn drive, unless you are driving. I am really starting to get used to this not having a car thing.
- enjoy it while ya can
murphster
Yoga to a Tea
tea time
Starbucks really should be paying me for doing their advertising.
Yoga for runners… love Christine Felstead’s series of DVDs! I have been using her beginner’s DVD since I started training for San Diego last spring. It was starting to get a little boring since I do it everyday, and could basically repeat word for word what she was going to say next. I thought I needed some more challenging poses as well, especially in the hip region to better balance myself and stretch out my ITB, hips and stance. So I picked up the intermediate version last week and started it on Saturday – yes, up the mountains and all! I LOVE it! The sequence of poses are super challenging (for me), and I can already feel a difference in my posture and stance. Today I did the whole session all the way through – an hour and twenty minutes and afterwards I felt amazing! The only downfall is that Christine talks about running throughout the entire time and that’s all I can think about. Need to keep telling myself, I will get back there and be able to hit the pavement again soon. Patience!
So to go along with my healthy morning I decided on a green tea at SB’s instead of a coffee. Much better decision after my caffeine overload yesterday and Monday. I’m sure all this healthiness is good for my cold too. I doubt your body reacts well when it’s pumped up with 260+ milligrams (and that’s just a tall!) of caffeine on no sleep. Did you know that you can actually check your drink’s caffeine count online HERE!?? - just click on your poison of choice. This is what I was doing at 3am last night while lying in bed wide awake. I picked out some new less caffeinated bevys to try in the next few weeks – we’ll see how this anti-coffee kick goes this time. LAST time… not so successful.
More healthy stuff… and the best stuff on earth – besides Snapple. Greek yogurt! So good with a banana, raspberries and almonds. Tastes just like dessert for breakfast.
greek love
Love Me Two Times
two
You know it’s bad when you need two Starbuck’s in one day! Yes that is how much sleep I am lacking. This coughing needs to stop ASAP. Had to hit up SB on my walk to class last night for the second time yesterday. Luckily there is one on every corner so I passed about ten of them. Plus I had a coupon for a free drink – so technically it doesn’t count 
Couldn’t resist pairing this with the perfect song either. Haven’t listened to much of these guys lately but I missed them! Also found this yesterday and thought it was hysterical!
truth
from here
WORKOUT – yoga
No Phone No Lights No Motorcar
necessities!
Yes, it’s true… say goodbye to all electronics!! Not forever, just for the weekend – which will seem like forever. No PHONE No COMPUTER No TV No – Coffeeeeee. Ok, so there will be coffee but no Elixr or SB. And I’m really not going to miss TV, since I don’t watch it much (besides at the gym)… I went a month without even having one hooked up, so I think I’m good there. But officially giving up the cell phone is going to be weird. I don’t think I’ve gone without a phone since… January ’09, which is a little ridiculous. Not sure why I see the need to have it with me on vacation, in Mexico or wherever. Really no need for international calling plans besides being addicted to texting, FB, email and now Twitter - that’s just not a good enough excuse.
Heading up the Mountains this weekend and thought I’d try to officially de-stress and also make Mom happy so she doesn’t have to yell at me for being on my phone 24/7. It’s also safer as to not drop it in the lake, camp fire or drunk dial
So let’s do it up Gilligan style! And see how this goes… and in the meantime get excited.
Coffee and Company
finally K!
Since it’s been absolutely gorgeous weather!!! And since I can’t get outside to run 
what is there to do?? Go get coffee with friends! Or by yourself sometimes… that’s ok too. Wednesday Katya and I finally got to catch up. So nice to walk around the park on a beautiful day with SB and fun things to talk about. It’ so hard to keep in touch with everyone since people have such busy lives, but even just the little things make a big difference. You don’t have to plan a huge night out but meeting for just a few minutes for a hug, coffee and chatty chat is all ya need. Usually random meetings end up working out better anyway. So we had a great time! I think I could sit in the square all day and people watch. If I can’t start running soon and thinking of things to post about I just might have to do that for ideas!
But lately I have been doing a little cheating! :0 on SB that is. There are soooo many cute, fun little coffee shops around and I love trying new ones all the time. I found a great new place, Pure Fare. I walk by all the time and finally got to go in. Super healthy locally grown foods. Great coffee, vegan, gluten-free, fresh… all that good stuff. Plus they have a huge picnic bench inside with swinging chairs. How do you not love that? I did some homework while I was in there, which consisted of reading my chem lab while trying to talk to this yoga instructor about going back to school. Needless to say I didn’t get much done. BUT I did have an awesome lemon poppy-seed muffin, and coffee!
looks like fall
WORKOUT – fusion (kicks my butt… need to do this more often), and of course ITB stretches (yes, JE – I actually DO stretch!!)
Starting off the Week, Productive
So I guess you could say I’m technically ‘starting’ my week today. Now it’s time to get serious about training, and getting things done! Enough procrastinating!! Got up this morning at 5:30am to hit up this new Fusion cross training class with my new partner in crime – E. Wow – love it!! And I thought I liked spin! I might have to re-vamp my whole marathon training plan just to fit this into my week. As long as I use the treadmill workout as part of my mileage and speed work, and only use light weights it should really benefit me. Spin will just have to wait til marathon recovery time comes.
Great workout of intervals doing cardio on either bike, treadmill or row machine. And then a mix of strength training with weights resistent bands and flexibility. ALL with awesome (and hot) instructors and great dance party music!! Combine that with my fav cup of coffee afterward, all before 8:30am and you are ready to go for the day. So I will definitely be working this into my training program because I really think it will help my endurance, and flexibility during running. We’ll see how my muscles feel tomorrow and on my long run on Friday. Off to get tons of things done today… including booking some exciting little travels.
Fuuuuuusion
perfect
WORKOUT – Fusion – hopefully some yoga later
Bye-bye Coffee
bah-byeeee
Giving up coffee and cutting back on caffeine is what I’ve been hearing a lot about. Seems like everyone I talk to lately says they have tried to cut back. Stock in Starbucks?? I do love coffee – which is actually a recent obsession of mine. It wasn’t always my thing up until about a year point five ago. It’s definitely a nice little treat everyday, and the Starbucks App for the I-phone is addicting and so fun! However, it does add to anxiousness (who needs more of that!?) and contributes to not being able to sleep that well at night. Unless you drink it at the same time everyday, kinda like any other drug (perscribed of course), that you are supposed to take. So maybe if you get up at 5:30am everyday and have a Cup-o-Joe, and that’s it for the day then you’d be fine. However, sometimes I’ll drink it before a run or sometimes have iced afterwards and by the time that happens it could be 1:00 in the afternoon. Bedtime comes and my heart is still racing. And don’t even get me started on Latte’s! With a lot of things in life, consistency and moderation are key. So let’s cut out the coffee for a week and see what happens. Next Thursday … here we come…
The Three Things
saxy
Someone once gave me some really good advice… and it goes like this: write down three things that you are thankful for each day, and why. Three things in your life that you are excited about when you start off your day. Or at the end of the day, things you accomplished and feel good about and are thankful you got to do. The way I started out doing this is: write down three great things that happened to me the day before, three things that I am excited to happen that day (helps if you do it in the morning), and then at the end of the day, what you accomplished and are grateful for. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – love the way that sounds. So pretty much that’s nine things… but you get the idea. Once you get the hang of it you can start to just use 3 – or make mental notes instead of actually writing them out. They can be stupid little things or super important things, but either way it will always make you feel better, trust me!
For example today I can say I was happy that I got to sit outside on Main Street on this gorgeous day and drink coffee and text study (jk, I really did get a lot of studying done). Another was that I found some new avenues to find renters, and decided that whatever happens, happens and I’ll get my place rented and sign my lease one way or another (because I rock like that) – again, kidding. And thirdly I get the opportunity to kick my final’s butt and be done with class for a few days… this is more of a wish, but I am hoping it comes true. So try it out once in a while, because I’m telling you it works great!!
Here is one of mine from awhile back: Saturday April 16th, 2011
Yesterday: 1.learned a lot in class, one step closer to a new career 2.rested my ankle, better for sunday’s run 3.talked to ‘said’ person and he gave me this great idea
Today: 1.rest my ankle, drink water, get ready for run 2.errands, cross things off my to-do list 3.get nails done, fun
Tomorrow: 1.run 16 miles, psyched! 2.head to mountains, relaxation time 3.drink, food, lake, fun, spend time with rents
no more dev psy
