Day 67 & 68: N.Y.C (again)

Getting out for a run here is sooooo much harder.

Out every night.

Too much rich food and good wine.

On Monday night after I arrived, I had dinner with my dear pal Lucas. After delicious burgers and an old fashioned (or two), I met one of my oldest friends and...the night extended with fun and bubbly for a bit too long, and there was no run on Tuesday.

After another evening out, I did rally on Wednesday and headed out to the usual route along the east river. It was a bit chilly for me at 33 degrees but I got over it quickly.

Thursday morning was better - it the mid 40's! And it was a lovely little run. I left my phone at home - I had left my watch in Cali, which was annoying, but carrying the phone and pausing the timer at the lights (yes I am that precise) was even more annoying. So Thursday I just ran - I knew roughly what 40 minutes should be so just ran and ran and it was pretty lovely.

day 67 mileage: 3.6 miles
day 68 mileage: 3.8 miles
season mileage to date: 136.9 miles

Days 39 - 45: Home away from home

Despite the whirlwind trip of work and visiting with pals and generally not being as well behaved as I am in Cali, I managed to get all my runs in, which I was pretty proud of myself for.

Wednesday morning after our decadent dinner I managed to make it out for a run along the east river. It wasn't too cold, and the sun was shining. The city is *filthy* at the moment - I forgot how dirty it is between snow melts. No one picks up their dog poop in the snow for some reason, and as the snow melts it reveals little poopy landmines to be avoided. The garbage hasn't been picked up on a regular schedule and piles of it crowd the street. It's gross!

I ran again Friday & Saturday mornings on the East River. Since I've been gone the promenade was finished and it is lovely! Saturday morning there were so many runners out it felt like there was a race on.

Saturday my best friend from college surprised me and we had brunch in the city, then Saturday night the Park Slope crew got together for dinner. When I come into town, we gather at Giuseppina's for a delicious dinner of too much pizza and reasonably priced vino!

This was good fuel for my 6 mile run in prospect park.  We were out a little late so it took me a little while to get on the road after eating breakfast and waking up - about 2pm in fact. But once I was out there it went really well. I had a great run despite the hills that I am no longer very accustomed to.

Monday was an off day but I had a terrible night's sleep last night (woke up at 3am and so skipped this morning in exchange for some catch up zzzzzz. And now I'm flying west, very excited to be going back home.

Day 39: 3.5 miles
Day 41: 3.4 miles
Day 42: 3.1 miles
Day 43: 6.0 miles
season mileage to date: 80.5 miles

Day 38 - New York, New York

The idea of an early flight is always a good one - leave early, wake up on NYC time so in theory you can combat jet lag, arrive early, have a little bit of the day when you land, etc.

But then the reality sets in the night before that you need to wake up at 4:30am and the sadness begins. 

K I'll stop whining about being sleepy. I should have run yesterday, but went on a little hike instead and, continuing the meh week I've been having, broke my phone face so needed to go get it fixed during the time I might have been running. 

So after a day on the plane, and before a dinner at my friend's restaurant, I had to get a run in. It is actually not terribly cold compared to what everyone says it's been like here so I really really haven't a right to complain. I suited up and headed east. The sidewalk was slick and full of people, so pretty annoying until I got to the river. 

Once I got out there though it was pretty nice to be back in the old stomping ground. It was a tiny bit sketchy (don't worry mom! i'm fine!) running over there at night, but there were a few other runners out so I wasn't the only crazy person out there.

The assignment was to run 40 minutes with warm up - I went slightly faster on the way back so shorted myself a minute or two, but felt good especially given how tired I was. Now, for dinner with the ladies at Corkbuzz - an awesome little wine bar with awesome food and really great classes like pairings with take-out! Perhaps I will carbo-load with some delicious pasta for tomorrow's run...which is definitely going to be hard tomorrow morning since I just ran this evening.

today's run:  3.4 miles
season mileage to date: 64.5 miles

Day 33: At dusk

I left Portland yesterday and brought a relapse or new breed of sickness back with me. I'm blaming my run in the rain - smart move given that I was just getting over the cold. Also what is with this winter? Everyone I know that has gotten sick just can't kick it - me included. And being sick makes me soooo whiny. I was extra so yesterday with the fever I had forcing me to miss practice.

Today I was feeling better tho so decided to head out for a run around sunset.

It was lovely and aside from the tickle in my throat the whole time, felt pretty good. It's really mild here and it was a very pretty sunset this evening.

Before I started my calf was still a bit sore from Tuesday but it actually loosened up as I ran and felt better than it did all day. I took a good long time stretching, watching the sun drop into the sea, glad I made it out.
I better kick this damn cold (again) fast.

today's run:  2.7 miles
season mileage to date: 53.3 miles

Day 30: Portland on ice

Portland is a crystalized chilly mess at the moment. The snow from the last three days turned to frozen rain and ice, leaving everything crunchy and slippery. There was no way I was going to be able to run today so took the opportunity to start the strength-training routine one of the coaches gave me.

I'll be doing these bad boys three times a week and in 5-6 weeks time the coaches say I should feel a noticeable difference, and in the meantime working my way towards being stronger, more stable and less injury-prone.

Here's my little routine complete with some quality demonstration videos:

Body Weight Squats - 2 sets of 10 reps

Step Ups - 2 sets of 15 reps for each leg

Heel walking - 3 sets of 45 seconds

IT Band Strengthening - 2 sets of 12 reps for each leg

The step ups and the heel walking were hardest - the step ups I started on a chair that was definitely way too tall and did the second set on some steps. The heel walking is awkward and gets painful towards the end so can totally see how that is going to get my calves in shape.

Hopefully things will melt enough for me to try out running over here on the other side of Portland tomorrow.

Day 17: Portlandia

As expected Portlandia was a grey. It was not, however, as freezing as I expected so that was a bonus.

We had meetings all day then I made it into my running gear and out the door before my boss tempted me with Pok Pok chicken wings and a beer. 

I headed from the Ace to the river and it was actually pretty pleasant. I forgot that its really lovely to run when there is a little chill in the air. I mean sometimes I get that in Venice if it is really fogged in but its not a real chill. I used the bridges as my landmarks and quickly completed a 2.5 mile more or less down and back route.  It took me 29 minutes but I'm going to chalk that one up to lights and traffic.

By the time I got back, I had my first email of the season from the coaches, along with the schedule. I'm freaking out a little but that's for another post...practice starts Sunday!

today's run:  2.5 miles
season mileage to date: 29.1 miles