This and That

Thought I would post a random update of some things I've been up to running wise and life related lately. For starters joining planet fitness has been amazing. Every morning that I plan to get up and run I happily (for the most part) get up and head to the gym. I enjoy the thought of getting my runs done, but not being freezing or my throat burning from the cold the entire time. I know plenty of people are ok, or even enjoy, running in the winter...I am not this person. I also feel more comfortable running after work now because of the gym. I never would run outside at night because it's too dark and I'm scared I'll get hit by a car....I've also watched one too many episodes of SVU and am scared of getting stabbed or something. I know I'm insane.  I got out of work late Friday night and headed over to the gym for what turned out to be an awesome 3 mile run!

I took the rest of the weekend off from running because I had a long work event yesterday. Fortunately, I was able to go in a little late this morning and went for a run. This is when I found out I am not able to run without my music! I got to the gym and found out I had no headphones. I knew if I went home to get them I would never get back to the gym. I decided I'd just tough it out instead. I some how ended up directly next to the most obnoxious girl in the world  who was on her phone the entire time. I don't understand how someone can try and hold a phone conversation while running. I also don't understand why talking loudly and laughing loudly and etc is necessary. I tried hard to just focus on the running, but it didn't go that well. In the end I ran 2.5 miles and called it a day. It was a bonus run for me for the week, so I figured any extra running is good.

I'm trying to focus on making sure I get my weekly distances in every week. My last few races I've managed to easily get myself off course in training and ended up not being very prepared. For that reason, my main goal for the day of the race is to feel I prepared as much as I could for it. I know day by day I'm getting a little faster and feeling a little better about my running! I also might of found my first mini race to do to start out my new years resolution of a race for every holiday! More about that this week!

Happy Monday everyone!

Cupcake Wars

Everyone and anyone that knows me, knows I am obsessed with cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes are so simple and easy, and so delicious at the same time. I do a pretty good job about keeping myself a good distance from cupcakes at all times. Unfortunately yesterday I had myself a mini cupcake war.

There was a birthday at work which resulted in an insane amount of cupcakes. There were easily enough cupcakes for everyone in the office to have at least 5. The other downside was they all were in my office. Not even that, but they all were directly in front of my desk. It was painful! I felt like I was on a Biggest Loser episode when they have a food challenge and everyone has all their favorite foods in front of them.....and then try not to eat them. It was rough. I give myself credit that from 8:30-11 I sat with them in front of me and didn't eat a single one. Around 11:04 it all fell apart.

Totally caved. 100%. In my defense, when they do these challenges on Biggest Loser, the food goes away after a few minutes or you get a prize for eating something. The cupcakes did not go away and I did not get a prize. I was the clear loser in the cupcake war.

Other then my cupcake meltdown, I have been trying hard to stay on track with my eating. I know a big part of my work for the 1/2 marathon is eating healthier. I also did a 2.5 mile run this morning. It was supposed to be 4, but between tired legs and crammed time for work, it turned into 2.5. I feel good though about getting back on track and ready for the 1/2! Only 53 days till the race!!!!


Happy Tuesday Everyone! 

Things I learned on a snowy day

Yesterday was the first real snow NY has gotten this season, well unless you count the weird storm on Halloween. From this snow storm I learned many things...

1. My car is not built for snow, at all. My brakes don't like it and don't understand how to work in it.

2. It can cost $132 to send something from NY to Colorado over night...true story

3. People at Planet Fitness will still judge and look at you like you're insane because you drove to the gym while it was snowing.

4. The grocery store is just as busy after a snow storm as it is the day before a snow storm.

5. Dunkin donuts coffee can make my day 100% better.

6. I no longer am a fan of snow.

Luckily it's not snowing today so I'm pretty happy. I joined Planet Fitness yesterday and went with the no contract plan. I got a free shirt (sweet!) and a place to run when it's snowy/cold. I'm pretty excited about it and think this will work out best for me. I'm already back on track with my training plan. I ran 5 miles yesterday, slow, but still I got it done.

I also bought a new yoga mat the other day :) It's from lululemon, of course. So much better for at home pilates! It also will be nice for my morning stretching. I am slowly getting better at the stretching, again slowly being the key word.

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend! Happy Sunday!

The last pieces of the DC plan

You all may have noticed a lack of running in my weekend recap. I am one of those people that hates cold. I mean full on hatred of it. So far the winter hadn't been bad at all. 40 degrees? Sure I'll go run! 10 degrees? Sure I'll go sit on the couch in sweatpants! I knew the cold was going to be a problem with my half marathon training. Luckily, I've been able to run outside for a while now without issue. This last weekend though was a problem for me. It was freezing out, and some ice as well. I don't deal well with ice either.

I told myself I would just power through the winter months and be fine. After this past weekend though I can tell that wont happen. I know myself well enough that if running outside in the cold is my only option, no running will get done. I decided instead of continuing to be in denial and saying I'll run even if it's freezing, I'd join a gym. I know this is a simple answer for most people, however it took me a little while to actually decide I wanted to do this. For starters, I don't want to pay basically anything to go to the gym. This is for multiple reasons, the main one being I'm poor. Another problem is I only want to go for a few months when it is cold out. When March or April comes and it is warmer out, I will have no need for the gym anymore. This clearly means I don't want a contract for a gym. And lastly, I have the tendency to split my weekends between Westchester and Long Island. Some weekends I will be in one place, some weekends another. It would be nice if I could workout in a gym in both places.

I know, I seem a little needy, ok... a lot needy. I did find a gym that fits almost all of my ridiculous needs though. Planet Fitness works perfectly for me. It is all of maybe 10 minutes from me and I have two plan options. One plan is $10 a month (win!), no contract (win), but I can only use it in one location. The other plan is $20 a month (still a win), contract for a year(fail), but I can use it anywhere I want and bring a guest whenever I want (double win!). I haven't decided which exact plan I will choose, but Saturday morning I am signing up for one of them.

Currently I'm leaning toward the $10, no contract membership. It seems to make the most sense for me now. On weekends, it doesn't really matter where I am cause I can wait to go later in the day when it is a little warmer. Weekdays, I'll almost always be in Westchester. I need to be sure I can get up early in the morning and go to the gym to run at least two days a week. Then once it starts to get warmer out I will be able to stop the membership and run outside again!

So there it is, the rest of my plan for DC! I am in Massachusetts for the day today, work related, but back to New York tonight!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Weekend fun!

I had a pretty low key weekend, which I love! Friday night I was at a wrestling match on Long Island. This was my first wrestling match and I sat pretty horrified the entire time. Every other second I thought someone was going to snap their neck. Horrifying. Saturday morning I was up pretty early, aka 6:45. Downsides to your boyfriend having work on Saturday mornings are waking up insanely early, upsides are getting to see amazing sunrises!

Saturday night I went out in Brooklyn for a friends birthday.  Good time overall, but it was freezing walking around! I had a delicious margarita, a good time with friends, and the Patriots won, so in the end I was pretty happy.

Sunday I was supposed to run 5 miles. Then I found out it was all of 10 degrees outside and I chose against it. To say I don't enjoy the cold at all is an understatement. Instead I spent the day watching football and making stuffed peppers! I found a quick and easy recipe for stuffed peppers a few weeks ago and have wanted to make them since then. 

Pretty easy to make. Start with cutting off the stems.

Clean out the seeds, this was Paul's job

 Ready to be filled!

 Cook onions and peppers

 Add sausage and brown rice. 

Stuff peppers with filling. Put in the oven and cook at 375 for 30 mins.

 Take out of oven and put some mozzarella cheese on top then back in the oven for 15 mins.

And done!

They turned out very good, and a huge bonus is I made enough to have for dinners 3 nights this week! I'm pretty good about being able to eat the same meal multiple nights in a row, so this will be perfect for me. I pop them in the microwave for 3 mins and am ready to go!

The rest of the weekend was more relaxing time. I watched Chic Runner's (a great running blogger) wedding on WE Sunday night. It was a great episode and fun to watch! I also saw Beauty and the Beast, I know you're all jealous about that! I will say I was probably worse than the kids in the theater though with the amount of times I had to get up to go the bathroom. We also rented Horrible Bosses and Friends with Benefits, both I thought were hysterical. You will notice the lack of running in this weekend recap and overly high amount of laziness. No worries, more info on that to come tomorrow! 

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Slow and steady...

That is a pretty good description of how 1/2 marathon training is going. I liked my plan, mostly because it had the amount of running in I needed while fitting with my life/work schedule. Unfortunately in the always changing world, my schedule did shift a little this week. I realized this could easily happen and have chosen to stand by the training plan best I can, but change it when needed. At the end of the week as long as I get all my schedule runs/workouts in, it doesn't really matter which day I do them.

I started doing pilates again this week, as it was part of my resolutions for the year. Instead of taking a class, I was able to easily do it at home after work. I of course loved it, and forgot just how much of a workout it can be. The inspiration board is really helping every day. When I get home from work and am tired, instead of changing into pj's, I see the board and quickly change into workout clothes. That was exactly what I was hoping for out of that board. My stretching every morning resolution is slowly coming along as well. The mornings I have time...aka drag my ass out of bed sooner... I stretch for about 15 minutes.

Lots of fun plans for the weekend, including running of course. I love having a long weekend as well, extra bonus day to run and relax.  :) I am off for a run now. I tried to wait as long as I could for it to warm up before I headed out!

Happy Saturday everyone! Enjoy the weekend!

DC training plan!

It's finally time to reveal the training plan!

 

I'm aware it's small, if you click on it that should fix issues! I think this will work for me. I gradually increase my long runs on Saturday, which will be a good long run day for me. I mix in my days off based on my personal/work schedule, and when I think I will need it from running. I will be doing my at home pilates and at home strength training two days a week as well. As always, you all will get updates of how it is going along the way!

Today is one of my lucky work from home days, so I will be finishing up my work and heading out for a run. I also will become an actual New York resident this afternoon at the DMV! Updates tomorrow :) 

Happy Tuesday!

Inspiration Board

Ok so I'm aware I was supposed to be posting the new training plan yesterday, but I have good reason that I did not! I was busy making my inspiration board! I got the idea from an awesome blogger Gina, who just had a baby so congrats to her!

The idea of the board is to give you some inspiration for any of your resolutions for the year. I thought it was a great idea and definitely wanted to make one for myself. Paul and I went out to staples today and grabbed a whole bunch of stuff to make the boards. Paul decided to do one a little different, but more on that later.

I went through magazines and pictures that depicted my resolutions and goals for the year. It took a little bit of work, but I'm proud of the result!

 

Yay! Inspiration! 

So  little description. Right in the middle is 13.1 and the Rock n Roll DC picture. This will be big for me this year, as I'm hoping it will be my best 1/2 marathon yet. Around it are pictures about running, beach, healthy food, saving money, a picture of Chicago, Home sweet home for a new place, someone stretching/pilates move so that I remember to do both, awesome abs for being healthy, and a nice beach bum. I have yet to figure out where in my room this will go, but some place I can see when I get up in the morning.

Our boards!

Paul's board is one side for goals and another side for accomplishments. It was a great idea and came out really well. Once he accomplishes one of his goals, he'll move it to the other side of the board!

Other than that, I didn't do too much else this weekend. I always love a weekend of just running errands and relaxing. Updated training plan to come tomorrow, and it will actually happen this time haha.

Happy Monday everyone!

65!

65! That is in fact the temperature outside right now, on January 7! I'm sitting outside as I type this post because it is just that nice out.

Proof! 

This was such a treat today, and a huge difference from my freezing Tuesday and Wednesday! I took full advantage of the weather and went for a run this afternoon. Lately I have been running around the nice flat track, and needed to get myself a little out of my comfort zone. Running near the house with some hills was different for me, but what I needed. I did 2 miles at a 10:22 pace, which I was pretty happy with. I got to wear my lulu crops and a light lulu long sleeve shirt that I usually wear under another two layers. I could of easily gone out in shorts and a short sleeve shirt, but it was January so I still was a little worried it could suddenly get freezing. 

After the run I went out back for a little workout. I had big hopes to do the 100 workout today.

It was pretty rough, and I didn't even do the whole thing. I did the 100 jumping jacks, and then jumped down to do the 50 crunches, 40 squats, 30 leg lifts, and 20 more jumping jacks. I decided the 2 miles before this would cover my 10 min run. During the workout it was pretty eye opening as to just how much I need to work out my core. With my new training plan for the DC half marathon, along with my 4 days of running a week I will also add in 1 day of Pilates and another day of strength training. 

I have an actual plan that starts tomorrow until race day that I will post tomorrow, once it's all colored and pretty obviously! Hope you all enjoy the rest of your Saturday! If you all are lucky like me to have a gorgeous day today, go take advantage of it!

A series of unfortunate events

Happy Friday guys! Sorry I've been so MIA for the week. I do have (slightly) good reason for it. After getting ready to start the New Year off right, a series of unfortunate events happened on Tuesday morning. First I had to go back to work. Ok this isn't really unfortunate, or a rare event, but keep in mind I've had a week and a half off. It was a week and a half of sleeping in late...waking up with the dog at 7 am and falling back asleep for 3 hours... A week of not stressing about anything work related either. My 7 am wake up call on Tuesday morning, without being able to go back to sleep for 3 hours, was unfortunate.

Event number two happened immediately after I woke up Tuesday morning. I had a stinging feeling (yes that is my best description) right under my left eye. For those of you that have read the "ridiculous details of Amy's life also known as About Amy," you are aware I have a fear of all things related to eyes. I was a little nervous, but brushed it off that it would go away. (Sneak peak of what's to come...it didn't go away.) I slowly got ready and forgot to stretch. Unfortunate event number 3. I knew at some point I would break my "resolution" and was not crazy to think I would actually go a whole year stretching every morning. Unfortunate event number 4 occurred when I stepped out side. It was actually winter out, at around 15 degrees. I had been so spoiled by 40 degree and 50 degree weather up until then and froze when I went out.

I went on with my unfortunate Tuesday, my eye did in fact get worse, and no running occurred for Tuesday. The week happened to go on like this. The eye thing is annoying, but almost gone. I'm mostly just happy that I don't have to have anything drained and etc. Nobody needs to put anything near my eye! I had no days to go into work late this week, it was a 4 day work week after all, so no running happened. I will be running tomorrow and Sunday to get myself back in the mode.

I have an updated training plan coming tomorrow, oh that would be training for the Rock n Roll DC 1/2 Marathon that I officially am registered for!

Hope you all enjoy your Friday!

2012!

Happy 2012! I hope you all enjoyed a nice NYE. My night was full of Chinese food, Champagne, and Fireworks, an awesome NYE in my opinion. While 2011 was a great year (new job, new state, traveling, running, triathlons and etc.), there is always room for changes in the new year. I made a few resolutions for 2012, both running related and life related. The key was to have some resolutions and goals to make me push myself, but also not to be so lofty and general that I would not follow through.

1.       Run a race for every Holiday 

-I know this seems a little random, but I think it would be fun! 

2.       Run 2 possibly 3 Half-Marathons 

-  I already have 2 planned to do (DC and Chicago), so hopefully I will follow through and maybe even add one in Rhode Island. 

3.       Stretch every morning 

- This has been something I've needed to do for years! I am not flexible at all, and I know it would help improve my running and any other work outs. I know I may not do this every day, but I figure if I get into some sort of pattern it will help my flexibility. I already stretched this morning so I'm still on track so far!

 

4.       Run at least 10 miles every week 

- Hopefully when I am training for races, this will clearly be higher. During the time I am not in training though, I at least will be running 2 miles/5 days a week. 

5.       Run 5k at 9:00-9:30 pace 

-While my larger goals work with distance, I think this goal will help with my speed not only for a 5k. If I am capable of keeping that pace for 5k's, I know eventually I will be able to keep it up for longer races.

6.       Run 10k in under an hour 

- If other resolution for the 5k goal pace works, this goal should work as well.

7.       Take Pilates Class

- I L.O.V.E. pilates! I say every year that I want to take more classes, and I haven't yet. This year I really hope I will be able to take classes more often. Not only do I enjoy it, but it is a great work out and helps with my flexibility.

I also have a weight loss goal, which for now I am keeping too myself. It isn't a crazy out of control one that will never happen though. Hopefully if I follow through with all the above resolutions, the weight loss won't be a problem at all. My other resolutions for life are get an apartment, cook more (or learn how to, same difference), and most others about saving money.

Day one of the new year is done and so far I am off too a good start with stretching and a nice run in awesome weather for January! 

Hope you all had a great Sunday and a good start to the new year!