Longest Saturday & First Bridal Shower

This past weekend I headed out to Southampton again. Opposed to the weekend before, I had a little more time since I was taking a later bus.

I was quite proud of how I aligned everything together – and even more impressed with how it all worked out.

Our TFK’s Long Run was at 59th street & 1st avenue / Queensborough bridge. Perfect! Not only was it the easiest commute yet (imagine if I still lived on 61st) but there was a Bed, Bath & Beyond on 61st, my gym on 59th & Park and the Jitney stop at 59th & Lex. The pieces were all there.

I lugged all my stuff to the meeting stop, including clothes for 5-ish days, foam roller, yoga mat, recovery items and a party dress that dried just in time.

Pretty sure the gym front desk thought I was nuts as I stumbled in with all of this, drenched from my run.

After 14 less than awesome miles, I jumped into the group stretching, got a coconut water to mix with my protein powder (uh ending runs at a grocery store = brilliant, we created an express line of TFKers buying chocolate milk, fruit & Gatorade) and mopped my self up. Then I headed to Bed Bath & Beyond, dumped my bags in a cart and aimed for the registry section. Easiest process ever! And they gift wrapped it!

At the gym as I was pulling myself together to sit on a bus for 2 hours I got to eves drop on two women who used to do group runs together. Hearing about races and injuries and fellow runners made me excited {I’m becoming apart of this!! } as I was leaving I approached them (awkwardly) and thanked them for the added inspiration.

Compression socks on, I proceeded to nap for the next ~1.5  hours trying to ignore the fact that my legs would much rather be stretched out.

Saturday evening I catered a party with my old company – and I jumped right back into it  –  I was manning the kitchen. {hey, I never said I couldn’t cook, only that I don’t } I held strong until the end of the evening. Then I crashed.

But one of my best friends was back home for the shower and I was already in town so I faked energy and rallied. I’m getting good at changing on the go. Dancing was the destination. Ok I could do this, their energy & good music….it would boost me.

Yeah we didn’t last long.

In the middle of the dance floor the fact that I hadn’t had a real meal since my run hit me and I was hungry! And tired! Being completely sober I was ready to call it a night – luckily so were they.

Stupid tired, that nutella sandwich I pulled together in the dark was the best thing ever!

I made C promise me an iced coffee stop on the way to the shower when the next morning arrived way too quickly. I popped into the bakery while she picked up balloons – efficiency. Breakfast options were limited to a buttered roll though I was so tempted by the blue duck cookie but quickly reminded myself of all the goodies to come.

While I’m not in the bridal party I quickly & happily jumped into party throwing mode. Working with two of my best friends that I pulled into years of catering, plus seeing old high school friends to celebrate one’s happiness – fiesta style. Not to mention I was in Pinterest heaven.

Top highlights were:
– trying to get the keg from the car ….uh those things are heavy

– watching everyone run back & forth between the two entrances to catch the bride to be’s reaction

– delicious fajitas & amazing desserts that Sam made….available when long run hunger kicks in #willrunforcupcakes #andminiblueberrypies #andfudgybitesizebrownies

– seeing Sarah so happy and loved

After the party all we could think about were real showers – it was hot, we were already melted just from setting up the party.

Then it was time to finish off the keg and go for round two.

Card games ensued, I chugged Nuun and there were jokes of hydration – I haven’t laughed like that in a while. I decided I should go join some college kids in cards games before my long run – best way to hydrate!

Drink up Buttercup! {#missionhydration}

Fact: I’m terrible at drinking enough water on a daily basis

Fact: A large percentage of my daily beverage consumption comes from Iced Coffee

Fact: I sweat. A lot. Often.

Fact: I don’t wear hats (protecting my head from heat exposure)

Fact: It’s hot out (being summer and all)

Fact: High blood-sugar can increase thirst

All those facts point to one very obvious conclusion: Dehydration is a serious concern for me this summer – especially while training for my first marathon(!!) .

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I know that the actions I make outside of running will have a large impact on my training, therefore, I’ve been trying really really hard to start chugging. Ok sipping. A lot . Especially before my long run.

Since Memorial Day / training started I’ve carried a water bottle with me for every single run and am embracing the water fountains in central park.

That said, this whole #missionhydration thing is still a work in progress.

During last Saturday’s long run I drank water and stopped at fountains. After the whole phone debacle, I was finally left rushing home un-stretched and thirsty – far from the parks fountains. Luckily I actually had some cash on me (rare occurrence)  for a water bottle outside the park which I killed before I reached my apartment.

I threw a water bottle with Nuun in my bag – along with the container for later fueling. Smashed that on the train (I usually dehydrate myself during travel in fear of having to drag all my stuff to the bathroom).

But then came the iced coffee and it wasn’t until the early evening that I started back up with the water – even acknowledging that I should be drinking something but putting it off.

During last Sunday’s UGS/Athleta run I had my trusty side-kick water bottle with me, skipped the Honey Drop drinks for Hint Water that was offered (love when they include diabetic friendly options!) but that went  for the Iced Coffee (so.good.) straight after. Ran some errands mid day, taking the drop in humidity as a chance to walk some blocks (because I think my feet can travel faster than the bus – they can’t – especially in 90 degrees). Stopped and got some Arizona Iced Tea Vitamin Enhanced drink thing … too sweet ..when does that every happen?? Indulged my new trend (that I’m trying to drop) of a Powerade at Target.

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So why am I telling you every drink that I had over last weekend?  Because shortly after I got home from Target and a few other errands I came home and crashed. Not in the I’m so tired, so sleepy, my body wants a rest way. More in the I’m a little light headed (and this has nothing to do with blood sugars) I just need to lie down kind of way. From that point I went through a steady stream of Nuun tablets, with only an appetite for baby carrots (water food) and laid in bed for the rest of the day (this is where pinning is awesome!).

Now here’s the weird part  – as I was about to go to bed my roommate came home so I stayed up chatting for a bit. An hour later as I turned off the lights I was wide awake. So I turned them back on – and never went to sleep.

I can drink coffee and take a nap right afterwards. I realized afterwards that some of the Nuun tablets have caffeine but there’s no way it would keep me up ….all night.

Something I also faced last Sunday was  delayed hypoglymica (low blood-sugars) …. I’ll do a post as I research it more and my experience with it but basically exercise can still “be in your system” for 48 hours prior affecting your blood-sugar.  Granted with an off appetite, lots of fluids & exhaustion  I wasn’t making the smartest decisions, both in meal choices and insulin calculations. However, it was the confirmation to (finally) start dropping insulin dosages  – something I’ve been playing around with all last week and into this.

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Are you good about staying hydrated?

Favorite tips / tricks to drink more? 

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Weekend Workouts : Grumpy cross-training & heavy legs

Saturday was cross-training. An impromptu brunch (one of the best kinds) allowed me to put off the gym until the early evening. I was in full brat mode … idontwaaaanaaa. I decided to split up the machines to prevent surrendering to boredom & quitting (dramatic much?).

10 min on the bike level 10 random hills

25 min on the elliptical mixed intervals

5 min on the treadmill backwards on a high incline.

The bike was right behind the stairmasters with no TV and no magazine – made for some awkward times. I refuse to use the stairmaster since I live in a walk up.

This workout was not one away from a good mood. But then again life isn’t always rainbows and sunshine and sometimes you just deal with it.

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I did get in a very happy mood after I came home & showered

……

On Sunday I play a stupid game of yoga before run or run before yoga while starting to pack up my apartment.  By missing my morning choices I quickly booked a 5pm Vinyasa at Exhale before I could back out.

Of course I wished I did yoga first.

My legs were tight and heavy on Sunday’s 5 miler. I felt like I was going against these things:

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RunKeeper lied to me again so I didn’t have accurate splits but I finished 5.42 miles in 59:54 minutes for average pace of 11:04. I’ll believe it. To be honest I thought I was closer to 12 (and not happy about it). After dropping my phone and shattering the back I ended the run at one of my neighborhood coffee shops. Perfect way to end.

One of the major drawbacks of me not really doing anything about a broken fridge/freezer: now I have no milk for coffee & ice packs aren’t cold for icing.

I did put in some quality time with the foam roller before heading out to meet a friend at Starbucks. Downing a coffee so I can go meet a friend for another coffee?

Yep, sounds about right.

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Your turn:

How do you deal with grumpiness that doesn’t go away during a workout?

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Favorite Finds

Apparently Glee had already planned for a nod to Whitney Houston in its Valentines Day Special … while Jennifer Hudson did an awesome tribute at the  Grammys , Amber Riley nailed it.

{Weekend Recap}: Volunteering & Group Run

  This weekend was brought to you by

even if they didn’t realize it.

On Saturday I volunteered at thewhere I was reminded that I’m not a foodie. A day filled with samples and tasting is many people’s idea of a good time – to me it’s frightening. Forget the fact that some would call me a picky eater (including myself), no sort of nutrition label, no calorie or carb counting, endless eating of unknown dishes – frightful. Frightful I tell ya.

Sunday I did a #firstever ! I did my first group run. It was split into 3 groups: Beginners were going 2 miles at a 12 min pace, Intermediates for 4 miles at 10 min and Advance at 6 miles at a 8 min pace. I’m somewhere between a beginner and intermediate. Since I’ve been on this little unintentional break for a month and was on the higher end of 10m/m anyways I decided to stick with the beginners even thought it was only 2 miles. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be at the back – it’s that I didn’t want to be far behind / dying of the intermediate group.

First few minutes in and I thought oh boy, this is going to be hard to move at a shuffle pace than busting to keep up. Sticking to the front, I got to chat with one of the coaches which was pretty cool. We ran through Central Park, something I had been hesitant to do by myself incase blood sugars crashed. At one point, another runner and myself got ahead of the pack and someone how caught up with the intermediate group. We kept going for a bit before realizing they were going further and decided to circle back around to our original “team.”   We ended up doing 3.2 miles.

Most importantly : Now I wanted to do more! I was always one of those that thought it was for more serious runners and didn’t think I could keep up.  You just make it work for you. I also didn’t have music (was chatting – another reason I aimed for slower), didn’t record the run and never saw how far or what time it was.

Ps. NYC weather went from cool to cold this morning. This weekend was beautiful – not ready for the cold! [I’m a baby in cold weather]

Weather for New York, NY

57°F | °C Mon Tue Wed Thu Cloudy Wind: SE at 2 mph Humidity: 56% 59° 50° 66° 55° 70° 48° 66° 46°

See that 57? Not cool. I thought we agreed on 70.

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Your turn:

Have you ever done a group run? 

Was it with friends or strangers? 

Is it cold yet in your area?

{weekend wrap-up}: Movies &Target

You’re welcome.

Yeah, you should go see this movie.

No seriously. I didn’t have high expectations but love Emma Stone [so excited for The Help!!] & Ryan Gosling [yes, even with clothes on]. I laughed. Like a lot. It’s usually hard for me to sit back & relax and enjoy a movie …. I analyze too much. This one caught me by surprise and had a lot of great one liners.

Other highlights of the weekend included this:

Don’t laugh.

Ask any of my friends, Target is high on my list of happy places and I’ve had serious withdrawals since moving to the city. A visit home means a visit to Target. I once even have a friend offer to include that in my trip to see her. Don’t ask me to explain it, I just have this undying love of the pretty bright lights of Target.

I finally ventured to Harlem to check it out, after seeing that it was much close than I thought when I ran past it a few weeks ago [ you should have seen my face, I came to a halt when I saw the sig].

So while no big adventures, it’s one of those things that instead of continuously  talking about how I want to go/do – I  can cross it off the list.

And as you’ll note, no runs…or any exercise…but more on that later.

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Your turn:

What fun things did you do this weekend? Did you see any new movies? 

A Weekend in Worcester

 This past weekend I went up to Worcester, MA to visit a friend. With all the restaurants in NYC  I love seeing what my friends favorite places are, but keep my expectations low, who knew Worcester had a rocking restaurant scene ? 

We started with Tapas 

I am now to converted to Goat Cheese – fried {yes} goat cheese w. honey & almonds to be exact.

Then we went to

to enjoy these:

Apparently the owner of the dessert bar was on cupcake wars …

Bocado has some sister restaurants and my friend & I have already paired each up with a planned dessert so that we can try everything on Sweet’s menu {even their savory items look good}.

We went for drinks & $5 sushi afterwards with her boyfriend but we were too full to eat

The rain canceled our plans for hiking so we saw Hangover 2 & went to my beloved Target.

Ended the weekend with at Lucky’s Cafe before heading to the bus for 5 hour nap time.

Weekend at the movies

Loved. Hilarious.

Um…I should have brushed up on my ’20s literature culture

And to make sure I got my vitamin D: 

Saturday: Apparently I need to get
reacquainted with sunscreen. Hello sunburn    

Sunday: Veuve Cliquout Polo Match on Governors Island

 Fact: I grew up around the Bridgehampton Polo & Hampton Classic events so I couldn’t take this one seriously ….. apparently everyone else did. Hello H&M dress.

Fact: We were behind this lady at some point while in line.  Apparently I need to go hat shopping.

An light 3m -er was also tackled Sunday morning.