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Winter ain’t so bad…

January 30th, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (12 Comments)

This past week was pretty good in terms of running, aided greatly by the not-so-awful weather we’ve been having this winter. Mother Nature, if we can make it to April 16th without anymore sub-20 degree days, I’d be your biggest fan.

I was reading through a few posts from last winter and remembered one of the mornings when it was 6 degrees (!!!) out and I thought it would be fitting to run exactly 6 miles. And then my hands almost froze off. Luckily, January hasn’t been bad and my fingers are crossed for a similar February. With my luck, it’ll snow all month…but here’s to hoping!

Here’s how the week panned out: 44 miles.

  • M: OFF
  • T: 8.5 in morning w/ Alex
  • W: 6.5 in afternoon, a bit stuffy/congested
  • R: Rainy workout night! 2 warmup, 1 cooldown. 5.14 workout in 34:10 (6:49, 6:44, 6:43, 6:43, 6:18), 1K at end in 3:45 (6:15 pace)
  • F: OFF
  • S: 14.5 long run w/ Alex & Alysia/Ambreleah. Warm, shorts run…felt really strong! ~ 7:25-7:30 pace average on CP bridle & Riverside
  • S: 5.5 easy + Total Body Conditioning Class

Thursday night’s workout was a pretty good one. It was only slightly drizzling on the warmup, but started raining pretty heavy into the workout and especially on our cool down. While I was a bit chilly at the end and cut my cool down short to only 1 mile (wimp), I typically love running in the rain and the workout went nicely.

Workout 1/26

Followed by a short recovery & a 1K which I did in 3:45. The first four miles were kept pretty relaxed and I never felt like I was working too hard, which felt good. While it was prescribed at half-marathon pace, which is closer to 6:26, that just isn’t happening right now. We were able to bring the pace down the last mile because it’s largely downhill and we were reeling in some people who had gone ahead at the start.

Right after the workout, I showered & headed straight downtown to our dodgeball game where we won (!!!) and I proceeded to play flip cup until midnight, without eating dinner. Great decisions as usual.

My long run on Saturday was one of the best runs I’ve had in a while. While it was my longest run of the training cycle so far, the warm(er) air and great company really made the run fly by. Alex and I ran into Alysia & Ambreleah and did a few loops around the Bridle before heading over to Riverside Park to add on before heading back to Central Park. It felt like spring, I felt fit and I (kinda) wanted to run forever.

Winter isn’t so bad, right? Looking to hit 50 miles this week which shouldn’t be bad if I go down from 2 to 1 rest day.

Amidst all this running, I’ve also been working towards my budding career in professional taste testing (wouldn’t that be nice?). Twice within the last few weeks, I’ve been a judge/taste-tester in food competitions. Lucky me!

Tonight, I headed to the SELF Magazine offices to be a taste tester for their annual Healthy Food Awards. I signed up to do this last year as well, so my taste buds and stomach were happy to head back for the 2nd year.

We sampled and judged the following categories: plain yogurt, flavored yogurt (sadly not Greek yogurt, ha), frozen waffles, unsweetened cereal, sweetened cereal, ethnic frozen dinners, and creamy dessert pops. Random? Yes. Delicious. HECK YES! I’m so full right now. Just wait for the June issue to see the winners revealed!

And about 3 weeks ago, one of the companies we share our office space with hosted their 2nd annual BagelOff. And needed judges to rate bagels from 5 different NYC bagel shops. Obviously I jumped at the chance. As my coworker said, I’m a marathoner- I can handle the carbs.

Murray’s was the hands down winner, followed by Ess-A-Bagel, Absolute, Russ & Daughters and Zaro’s. Love me some bagels & cream cheese. If you’re curious, here’s the official scorecard we used. My favorite was judging on overall taste: “Are all the flavors in perfect harmony, aligning the planets and exposing to you all that’s right with the world?” 

And this weekend was full of good eats as well. From a cute make-your-own Buffalo Chicken pizza and wine date night (did you know you can use pans as pizza dishes? Well, you can.)…

….to a Saturday night spent eating delicious Italian pizza, ‘Munchies’ ice cream and drinking beers on a patio (OUTSIDE!! in January!!) in Brooklyn, it was a fun-filled foodie weekend with friends!

Highlight of your weekend? How’s the weather been for you so far? Ever been a food judge..? It’s pretty awesome.

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Welcome to Sub-Elite, #287

November 3rd, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (16 Comments)

About a month ago, I applied for the ‘local competitive’ corral for the marathon. This is open to marathoners with a time of 3:16 or faster, and since I did it last year, I figured I’d do it again. I was assigned bib #504 and all was good. Then I found out there was another section, the sub-elite, for marathoners with a time of 3:05 or faster. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this sooner? I emailed the NYRR a few weeks ago and they let me know that unfortunately, the section was closed. No disappointment- local competitive was still a great option.

Yesterday at work, I got a call from NYRR, informing me that a few spots in sub-elite had opened up due to last-minute cancellations. Did I want to be switched? Ummmm, YES please!

Within a few hours, my registration card was updated to Bib #287.

singlet1

Needless to say, I’m so excited! Sub-elite athletes get a dedicated bus that leaves midtown at 6:30 a.m. and goes straight to the staging area with a special bag check, portapotties (most important!), refreshments, massages, and a clear starting position in the orange corral. Since I started on the lower level in green last year, I am probably most excited to start on the upper deck so I can actually see all the fanfare. And get to feel like a pro for a morning ;) I feel extremely lucky to be a part of this experience.

This afternoon I took a break from working at home (seriously, I love working from home! so much productivity without the commute) and ran the 3.5 miles from my apartment down to the expo. Nice way to multitask and get in my run for the day.

expo1

I spent about 45 minutes or so walking around the expo, checking out the free samples and stocking up on some gear.

shirts

A short sleeve gray shirt, a soft longsleeve blue half-zip (showing the back with the marathon type), and a red Brooks longsleeve: ‘Run Happy’. I love that one!

The expo really made me feel like the marathon is here. I’ve had a hard time wrapping my head around the reality that I’m racing 26.2 miles on Sunday, and needed the energy of thousands of others to get me in the mood. I don’t know when it’ll actually hit me, but I’m getting closer. Promise.

I worked a bit more when I got home, and then decided to make a nice, healthy dinner. Another perk of working from home: being able to cook from my own fridge, whenever I want, instead of depending on whatever I brought to the office that day and waiting to eat a ‘real’ dinner until I get home at 8! And the best perk: working in my sweaty running clothes in bed and showering 5 hours later. Mmmhmm.

salmon1

Baked salmon with TJ’s Island Soyaki sauce, over a bed of quinoa, edamame and cucumbers, also mixed with soyaki sauce.

I’m trying to increase my carbohydrate intake this week, to amp up my stores and fuel for the race. I don’t do the typical pasta binge the night before, as my stomach isn’t used to that and I’d probably get sick. And, it’s a bit too late to ‘stock up’ the night before. Instead, I’ve been focusing on having more healthy carbs all this week like bananas, oatmeal and cereal for breakfast, more pretzels and crackers for snacks, and bases of grains like quinoa when eating healthy proteins.

Since I’ve been running less this week, my appetite hasn’t been quite as ravenous. That means I’ve had to make a more conscious effort to eat every few hours, since I know my body needs the fuel. I don’t weigh myself too often, or get too preoccupied with it, but today I noticed I’ve lost about 3 pounds from about 2 weeks ago. For me right now, this is not a good thing! I need to hang on to all the muscle, power and water I can get to get me through the race. I will probably focus on getting back to a lower weight post-race. (Yes, I tend to gain around 5 or so pounds marathon training. I like to think it’s muscle, but it’s more likely a result of my monster appetite).

I’ll be back again tomorrow or Saturday with a pre-race post. Until then, send good marathon thoughts my way and tell me where you’re cheering!

What’s your favorite part of race expos? What’s your carbo-loading strategy? If you’re cheering WHERE WILL YOU BE?!?! I want to know where to look for everyone.

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The Final Push!

October 13th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (9 Comments)

I’m almost done with my last week of heavy training until November 6th. Remember last week how I said I hit 70 miles and felt great while doing it? Well, the tables have turned this week. My goal was (is?) to hit 75 miles this week, but my legs are just not feeling it. To hit 75 miles on 6 days of running, without a workout, is harder than I thought. I keep reminding myself that taper time is just around the corner, and it’s okay if the volume is making my legs tired for now.

Honestly, I have struggled a lot with motivating myself to get in my runs this week. A combination of training and some exciting personal changes (which I’ll discuss on the blog…soon!) seem to have zapped my energy and focus. Yesterday was one of those mornings where I felt like stopping dead in my tracks after a few miles, walking home, and being okay with that. Instead, I mustered up 11 easy miles as a run-commute to work, though every step was a bit of a mental struggle. This morning I woke up around 6 a.m. before my alarm, and wanted nothing more than to skip my run and sleep forever. I procrastinated on Twitter and email, and finally stood on my doorstep for about 5 minutes before I could actually will myself to run. 9 dark and misty miles along the Hudson River actually flew by, and I questioned why I thought the run would be so miserable.

The point here is, running has highs and lows. Training does not comes easy, and I don’t hit the pavement with a smile on my face every day. Some days I do, but many more days I don’t. But the days I don’t feel like running the most are the days I always seem to return back home, smiling that I did it. Putting in the work isn’t always fun, but the rewards of a new PR (fingers crossed!) on race day motivates me day in and day out to not listen to my body, and get out there and run!

Here’s how the week has shaped up so far. I am planning to take it easier on Friday and off on Saturday before running the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon on Sunday(!). This totals to 75 miles for the week, though I’m not sure how my legs will feel doubling again tonight so I might skip the run to rest.

  • Sunday: 20 miles with Alex in Central Park, Riverside, Battery Park, Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges
  • Monday: 9 miles in morning, 3.75 at night
  • Tuesday: 6.75 in morning, 5 at night
  • Wednesday: 11 miles run-commute to work
  • Thursday: 9 miles in morning, Planned 4 after work
  • Friday: Planned 5.5
  • Saturday: OFF

I might have forgotten to mention this on the blog, but yes, I am flying out to San Francisco this weekend to run the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon! (NOT the full!) My friend Jill from college is running it with her sister and friends, so I got looped in on their team and accepted into the lottery. My sister goes to college in San Francisco, so it was an easy trip with a free place to stay!

San Francisco is known for its hills, so my game plan is to use this race as a workout versus a race to PR. I’ll aim to run the first 10K  around marathon pace (~6:50) and then work on bringing that pace down for the second part of the race to practice feeling good while negative splitting.

I’ll also use this race to test out my (hopeful) marathon shoes! I’ve had a bit of a shoe dilemma…

Last year, I ran the marathon in an old pair of Nike Lunarsomethingorothers (honestly can’t remember if these are the LunarElites, LunarTrainers, LunarGlides, etc.), which I really liked. They had enough support while still being lightweight and fast.

However, after a few workouts and races, I wanted to find a fresh pair. Plus, the heel came up pretty high in the back and sometimes cut up my skin. Ouch. I bought a pair of Nike LunaRacer’s, because they seemed similar and I loved the color. Sucker for fun shoes.

After a few workouts, I felt okay in the shoes, but didn’t love them. The base felt a bit too spongey. I’ll keep wearing them for workouts, but wanted to find a new pair for the race. Since CPTC gets a 40% New Balance discount, I ordered the 1400s below and am crossing my fingers they work out! I’m hoping to wear them on my easy 4 miles to break them in a bit before the half. How fun are they?

New Balance 1400s, so bright! Hope these work!

Peak marathon training also means my appetite has increased tremendously, enough to feed a family of four at times it seems. To prepare, I made a big batch of quinoa on Sunday night and have been basing my lunches and dinners around it to ensure that I had a healthy source of whole grains and protein with every meal. Otherwise, it’s just way too tempting to eat peanut butter and 16 Handles for dinner every night. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…but I want to make sure I’m fueling my body the best I can to carry me to the finish line. Convenience is my friend in the kitchen when logging tons of miles and spending long days at work. With a bit of prep work, these meals have come together in less than 10 minutes. Hooray!

Wednesday's dinner: Quionoa, spinach, tomatoes, baked mahi mahi pieces and TJ's peanut satay sauce (new discovery- so good). Made this same thing on Monday with a burger patty instead of mahi mahi.

Today's lunch: Quinoa with zucchini, tomatoes, feta, walnuts and TJ's garlic chicken sausage

How’s your running going this week? What do you look for in a good pair of running or racing shoes? Favorite easy (and filling!) meal?

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Dinner Party Adventures in Brooklyn

September 10th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (11 Comments)

This week really wiped me out, despite cutting back my mileage. Perhaps it’s the fact I got less than 5 hours of sleep on Tuesday night to kick off the work week? Yep, that could be it, but I didn’t mind one bit since I spent the night (and morning) hanging out with fun running/blogging friends.

The lovely Megan invited a few ladies over to her new apartment in Brooklyn on Tuesday night for a dinner party ‘sponsored’ by Wish Bone. Basically, she got some salad dressings and created a few awesome dishes, and we brought wine and desserts. Everyone wins! It was nice to see some old faces, Ali and Susan, and meet some new friends: Sofia, Leslie and Danielle!

And we got cool tupperware gifts. Yay salad shakers!

My plate with a medley of salads. Both of those wine glasses may as well have been for me.

The conversation flowed, as did the wine, and it was really enjoyable how something like sitting in a living room in Brooklyn, chatting with people I met through blogging/running, could make me so content.

I touched on this a bit about a month ago (how runners rock a Thursday night), where I did a nice tempo run with my CPTC teammates, went to Ali’s fundraiser at the Jackrabbit store, and then got 16 Handles with Jamie. I felt so comfortable and happy spending time with like-minded people, something I haven’t really felt in a while.

Even though I’ve lived in NYC over 2 years now, sometimes it doesn’t feel like home. Only a small handful of friends from college actually live in Manhattan, and none of my high school friends do. I have college friends (and my boyfriend) outside the city in Hoboken, Westchester, or further out in New Jersey, but I miss spending time with those kind of people you feel close with on a more regular basis. Maybe I’m just nostalgic because I loved how all my friends were in one place in college, and they were mostly all runners. I’ve got a great group of friends I’ve met through work, who I definitely enjoy spending time and going out with, but it I feel guilty when I need to call it an early night at happy hour (like, 9 pm early), explain why I’m not drinking a month before the marathon but still want to hang out, or why I just snapped a photo of our dessert at dinner :)

And that’s why I love nights like Tuesday, where we can get a group together and discuss anything and everything from rehydrating from too much wine by drinking Nuun out of a measuring cup, to online dating and creepy text messages, to mmmsauce, to stresses of jobs and upcoming races and everything in between. And, taking 2 subways home from Brooklyn after midnight is a great way to bond, as is waking up at 6am the next morning to meet up for a run in the rain (thanks, Ali and Kelly!). Hope I’m not creeping any of you guys out, especially the ones I just met, since I think you’re all awesome and we should hang out again soon. Thanks.

Also, I don’t care if ‘meeting people through the internet‘ sounds geeky or weird (sometimes it does to me, and probably to my mom, too), because the people I’ve met through blogging and CPTC make me happy and are totally normal, awesome and even more fun in person. And we can even run together sometimes. Win!

COUNTDOWN:  Less than 2 months to the NYC Marathon. Yikes! I’m still not feeling so hot, but will save that whining for another day or two.

Do you struggle with having your home-away-from-home feel like home? How have you made a new town or city feel more like home? Do you like making new friends and want to get together and eat delicious food and drink wine with me? :)

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Post-Irene Normalcy, and Quinoa!

August 29th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (10 Comments)

You know those times growing up when you cross your fingers, wear your PJs inside out, do a dance in front of your freezer, and stay up kinda late in the hopes school will be cancelled for a snow day? (Or was that just me?) Well, this weekend was one of those times, but the grown-up/Hurricane Irene version. On Saturday, NYC braced itself for Hurricane Irene by shutting down the entire subway system at 12 noon, with “reports service wouldn’t be restored until late Monday afternoon” and preparations made for mass power outages. Excited by the chance of no subway service, I crossed my fingers and mentally prepared for the day off work Monday, or at least the day working from home.

Thankfully, NYC wasn’t hit bad by Hurricane Irene at all. I’m so glad we’re safe and sound here, but thoughts are with the hundreds of others who are left without power or stranded with damages to home. Fortunately (or unfortunately?) for NYC,  this also meant subway service was restored early this morning so Manhattan-ites were expected to be in the office, doing business as usual. I kind of felt like a kid whose dreams were crushed, but there are worse things in life than being safe and going into work. And, I randomly have a ‘summer day’ tomorrow which means I can still sleep in and eat breakfast in bed tomorrow…which I was so looking forward to today.

While Irene was a nice chance to stay inside, complete my blog self-hosting activity, do laundry, clean my room, and drink a few bottles of wine, by Sunday afternoon I was a bit stir-crazy. My legs actually felt weird from laying in bed and on the couch for so long, which I didn’t think was possible. Since it didn’t look too bad outside, I ventured to Riverside Park for a leisurely run!

Hurricane Irene <3s Sweat.

I made my way down to the Hudson River Bike Path, which was packed! Much more so than on a typical, nice weather weekend. Strangely enough, despite being just feet away from the Hudson River, there was no flooding along the path—barely even a puddle. I covered 7 miles total, and I was extremely thankful to have the tail wind at my back on the way home…the gusts and spitting rain really picked up on the latter half of the run.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and night relaxing, watching trash TV, and cooking up some lunches for the week. I prepared a batch of quinoa to make 4 servings, and put the cooked plain quinoa into different tupperwares to dress up with different ingredients throughout the week for variety. For today’s lunch, I mixed quinoa with zucchini ribbons, feta cheese, walnuts and sliced Garlic Chicken Sausage. This meal took less than 30 minutes from start to finish, including cooking the quinoa and rinsing all my dishes. And now, I’ve got a great lunch base for the rest of the week. Easy!

Quinoa is a very versatile ‘ancient’ grain, and can be found at most grocery stores (even Trader Joe’s!). It is a ‘complete’ protein, meaning it contains all 9 of the essential amino acids our bodies need. It has a slightly sweet and nutty taste, is pretty quick to prepare, and 1 serving has around 170 calories with 3 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, 5 grams of protein, along with 10% of your daily iron. I’m not a big refined pasta/rice person, so quinoa is a great way to get in healthy carbs and iron, which is extremely important during marathon training.

Quinoa with Garlic Chicken Sausage, Zucchini, Feta and Walnuts

  • 1 cup quinoa (makes 4 servings of quinoa)
  • Toppings for 1 serving:
    • 1 Trader Joe’s Garlic Chicken Sausage (or any protein of your choice)
    • 1/3 zucchini, peeled into ‘ribbons’ with peeler
    • ¼ cup feta cheese
    • ¼ cup walnut halves
  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions, for 4 servings of quinoa it’s usually 1 cup quinoa boiled in 2 cups water for 15 minutes until water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy
  2. While quinoa is cooking, microwave or grill chicken sausage. Peel skin from zucchini using peeler, and continue peeling insides to create ‘ribbons’. Alternatively, you could also slice/chop the zucchini.
  3. Once quinoa is done cooking, split into 4 serving sizes. To your single serving, add in sliced sausage, zucchini, feta cheese, walnuts and mix. Store remaining cooked quinoa in tupperwares, or add more toppings to save for later!
  4. Enjoy! This is also portable and can be re-heated for about 1 minute or more in the microwave, and eaten from a Tupperware at your desk like I did today :)

East coasters, are you back in work today? Have you ever tried quinoa, and what’s your favorite way to make it? I’ll need ideas for the next few days…

 

 

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Run Linds Run = Lindsay Runs

August 28th, 2011 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (7 Comments)

Hey friends, thanks for making your way over to Run Linds Run’s new home, LindsayRuns.com! With Hurricane Irene in town this weekend, my project for the weekend was to finally self-host the blog. I think I figured out a layout/theme that works, but let me know what you think! I actually had a lot of fun designing the header and playing around. (Also, ignore the camera-phone quality pics for now, my Canon S95 is still under repair.)

This week was pretty exhausting, and I’m actually kind of relieved that we were ‘forced’ to stay indoors this weekend. Pretty good excuse to relax, drink wine and take care of a few things around the apartment I’ve been putting off. Luckily I woke up this morning and the damage to NYC wasn’t bad here on the UWS: never lost power and not much flooding up here.

During a busy week it’s hard to balance work, fun, sleep, friends and running. Sometimes you have to pick a few things to do well, and let the other areas slide for a bit. This past week, I opted for fun and friends but slacked a bit on the sleep (and productivity at work..whoops). Between an office summer party at Hudson Terrace that turned into a late night…

Thanks for the photo, Jamie! (sometimeshealthylivingblog.com)

…And the resulting hangover breakfast at the office:

Egg sandwiches and bagels, yes please. Thanks again, Jamie!

A delicious 4-course birthday dinner for Dan and Sean at the Hurricane Club

Roasted peking pig...yum!

A late night playing ping pong at Spin (super fun!)

And going out for dinner, drinks and dancing Friday night for my friend Elyse’s birthday

Al Pastor, Grilled Steak, and Fried Oyster Tacos

The bar had a moose; I didn't take any pictures of anything else apparently

…I was exhausted. But I still managed to squeeze in 50.5 miles by being a bit flexible in my schedule. I can’t say they were all quality miles, but I got them in and I’m happy I made it work.

Week of 8/21: 50.5 miles

  • S: 7 miles out/back Riverside S + light gym
  • M: 14 miles post-work, east river loop up to UWS
  • T: 7 miles in morning in CP, legs a bit heavy
  • W: 7.5 miles post-work, from office through CP, end at TJ’s for groceries. Felt great & relaxed
  • R: 8 miles out/back Riverside N in morning, legs dead at end
  • F: 7 miles run-commute to work in morning
  • S: OFF! phew.

I didn’t get in a workout this week, but something had to give. And that’s okay. This upcoming week, my mileage bumps up to 55, so getting another week of base mileage was most important.

Amidst the work/drinking/running/Hurricane Irene fun, I’ve still been getting creative in the kitchen with some easy eats:

Easy 'no cook' work lunch: Shrimp, baby tomatos, feta, balsamic & olive oil

White Nectarines <3

Hurricane Irene Breakfast: Banana Protein/Oat Pancakes- kinda fell apart, but delicious topped with bananas and vanilla cinnamon greek yogurt

I’m realizing how important balance in life is. While I struggle to manage working full-time at a high stress job, training intensely for a marathon PR, having a normal social life and going out to eat, drink and dance in NYC, enjoying boyfriend time, attempting to cook and eat healthy when I can, and sleeping 7-8+hours a night, and keep this blog up, it becomes pretty clear that I can’t do my best at everything all at once.

Friends, family and co-workers seem impressed at how I juggle it all. I don’t have a secret or special powers. And I certainly can’t give 100% to everything, all the time. I just try to remain flexible, and pick and choose my priorities each day/week. Sometimes I won’t run as many miles as I want in favor of a night out with friends, and other times I’ll opt for a Friday night in to catch up on sleep. As long as I keep balance in mind, I’ll always be happy and confident in my choices and motivated to do things I want to do.

So, what do you think of the new blog home? Did Hurricane Irene impact you this week? How do you maintain balance and stay flexible with multiple priorities to juggle?

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