The long run...that waited, and waited....

Isn't this hat nice? This is my "Life is Good" hat I purchased this summer. Love it. As I took this self portrait, look in the background to see who decided he NEEDED to be in the picture...oh Lambeau...didn't see him until I looked at the picture. Sneaky little fella!

This past week, mid winter break for us NYC teachers, was a cup half full week. When I went to visit my family in CT last weekend, I was battling a cold, and the exhaustion won. I slept in, napped, read, and did muchadoabout NOTHING. Exactly what my body needed but never gets: Rest. So my long run last week was pushed until Tuesday, and my hoped for 8 miles turned into 5.5. My energy level this month has been L-O-W, and I have a feeling it was because my body was FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT against a germ-empowered-I-work-at-an-elementary-school cold. So, the following week in review is NOT what I thought it was going to be, but it worked. And since I skipped a week (Due to utter exhaustion) you get these reviews in a two for one special!!!

Week of February 13-19:

Sunday: 6.5 miles (Long run with my FAB friend Sara with no h!)

Monday: No running...Valentines Day...nice flowers for me, yummy dinner for him!

Tuesday: 3 miles

Wednesday: No running :-(

Thursday: 3.5 miles

Friday: No running...noticing a trend here...

Saturday: 3 miles

Week Total: 15.9 miles

Week of February 20-26:

Sunday: No running...fighting the good fight

Monday: Cold almost won...I'm not giving up

Tuesday: 5.5 miles (27 degrees, returned from CT that morning, gym was a stinky crowded MESS at 10:30am!)

Wednesday: 1 mile tempo, a 300 calorie burn on the arc and weights/yoga/crunches at the SPA!

Thursday: 3 miles...plus working arms with my former neighbor/workout buddy extraordinaire*.

Friday: 3 miles of intervals...plus legs with my former neighbor/workout buddy extraordinaire*.

Saturday: No running. Recouping my quads from my former neighbor/workout buddy extraordinaire*.

Week Total: 12.5 miles

Month Total: 49.8 miles

*Sarah is a dear friend who moved upstate. When she comes to visit, we hit the gym...hard. It was so good to be workout partners before, and I wish she was still here now. Sarah, you rock my world and left me sore for days. With longing. Teehee.

I'll give you a hint: I don't meet my goal for the month, so it is now March's goal. But today I went on a long overdue long run...8 miles. Here are some thoughts on my run:

- I need to not schedule long runs for Sundays. Sundays are my day of rest/leisure, and I always make excuses.

- Wind is a killer sometimes

- The East River has a REALLY strong current; if I fell in, where would I end up?! The Bronx?! :-D

- I love where I live.

Here is my recovery dinner...notice Lambeau is attempting to get scraps; from the dog who is NOT allowed people food and never gets the scraps:

Ingredients: (Whoa this is a wicked long post after a week of no blogging)

- Whole grain tortilla

- Fat Free refried beans (1/4 cup or less)

- 1 tbsp onion

- 1lb of chicken sauteed with your choice of seasoning

Bake that at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes

Take out of oven and add:

- Half a tomato

- 1/4-1/2 an avocado

- 1/2 a cup of shredded cheese

Optional: Taco sauce and fat free sour cream.

In a word: divine.

Help a Friend win a DREAM WEDDING!

My friend Melissa, featured in a previous running post, is in a contest to win a DREAM WEDDING with her fiance Gary!!! Their dream wedding will be amazing, including rehearsal dinner, reception, photography, limo's and a spa day!!!

WE NEED YOU TO VOTE!!!

Please follow the link below and pick Melissa and Gary. You can vote 5 times a day per email until Thursday!!! Get out and do your part....VOTE:

http://www.ctnow.com/weddings/dreamwedding/top-cj0904am/

Feeling a little BLAH

Isn't my little Valentine so cute?! (His shirt actually says "Little Valentine") Thanks $1 section at Target ;-)

My other Big Valentine sent me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers at work. However, he didn't realize that when you call the neighborhood florist where I work, there's a bit of a language barrier...so when he told them to write "Love of my Life" on the card, they wrote "Love of my WIFE". I had a very good laugh!!!

The second week of February was much better than the first week of February running wise. However, numbers are a bit off because I waited to do my long run until Sunday. I'm still battling a bit of energy lack, but I'm trying to fight through it.

Week of February 6-12:

Sunday: 4.06 miles (Race)

Monday: 4 miles (5am morning run)

Tuesday: No running :-(

Wednesday: 3 miles + 15 minutes on the elliptical

Thursday: 4 miles

Friday: 3.27 miles (AT WORK ON LUNCH BREAK, can you tell I was desperate?!)

Saturday: No running :-(

Week Total: 18.3 miles

Month Total (Including this current week): 30.7 miles

70 miles this month? I think it's still doable. I need to step it up though. Going to visit my family this weekend, so hopefully my sisters can kick some of my tired butt into gear!!! I also realized that I designated 70 miles for the month that is the shortest month of the year. Hmmm. 2-3 days less running than a normal month...that could equal 8-12 miles for an average 2-3 days...Yes, that was ill advised. If I don't meet my goal, it will become March's goal!!!

Half Marathon sign up has happened. I'm running with a team, something I've always wanted to try. Is it strange that I'm forming my own training program? I feel like the template for half marathon training is ingrained in my normal running, I just have to up the mileage.

Race Recap: Gridiron Classic

Welcome to my favorite AND first race of the year: NYRR Gridiron Classic. This was an amazing race, especially since my TEAM was in the SUPER BOWL! The goal of this race is to celebrate the American tradition of Super Bowl Sunday, kicking it off with a longest football throw contest, followed by a 4 mile race in Central Park. Let's just say, the weather was STUNNING. 40 degrees and SUNNY. We had to watch out for black ice, but it was melting by the time we were in the sunny parts (West Side) of the Park. There was tons of trash talking, tons of "Go Pack Go's", and I even made friends with a Bears fan because his son was undeniably the cutest little boy on the East side. Aw.

Time: 37:53/9:19 pace

Distance: 4 miles (lots of hills!!!)

Highlights: Hilarious race announcer. Costumes encouraged. Every mile you picked your lane; Steelers of Packers (Um, Packers were REPRESENTIN'!). Wish I had gotten a picture :-( Water at every mile. GREAT volunteers!!! The crowd vibe was awesome, seriously. Packers fans EVERYWHERE, including the above pictured full gear guy! Niice. Bagels (which are always from the same distributer for NYRR and have a very distinct taste) and apples at the finish. Some people complained about no Gatorade; uh, there was barely any sweating going on in 40 degree weather, water will do just fine thanks.

Lowlights: Crowded, but who cares?!

I actually entered too late and didn't get in, so I ran it with my lovely friend Sara anyway. We had a grand old time. Our time was slower than it would have been because we were running together, and weaving with two people in Central Park is a tricky challenge. We relaxed and enjoyed the race!!!

Verdict: Every state, heck every town, should have one of these races! No matter what team you like, they were all represented!!! Event he Redskins and Bills (But no Raiders)! ;-) It was good clean football fun. Plus it's a day when naughty food is BOUND to be eaten, so why not start it off with a nice brisk run!?

Cheez Whiz

I have never liked Lil' Wayne, but he put it best:

Yeah, uh-huh, you know what it is

I'm a cheesehead, y'all Cheez Whiz

Pittsburgh Steelers, thats nothin'

That Super Bowl ring, thats stuntin'

WE WON!!!

And my husband was there. No joke. My husband has been to a Super Bowl. Let's just say, he is BLESSED. Everything fell into place. He spent barely any money (Compared to what we thought it would cost) on going to Dallas, staying in Dallas, and going to the Super Bowl. Who can say that?! My man. So glad he got to go and fulfill his dream.

This past week (January 30-February 5) was stinky. Watch this workout summary and weep with me:

Sunday: No running (Brunch and Manhattan and decompressing from the week)

Monday: No running

Tuesday: No running

Wednesday: 3 miles (Kind of tempo)

Thursday: No running

Friday: No running

Saturday: No running

Let's just say, I had some tired issues, some crampy issues, and some "I need to sit at home and relax" issues. It was a really taxing week, my energy level was SO low. I'm feeling much better this week, and I did a race Sunday and ran today. That will be for another post.

Here is January in Review:

Goal: 52.2 miles

Actually Ran: 65.3 miles

YAHOO! That's what I had to push me to get back on the horse after a super tired week.

Goals for February: 70 miles. Let's see if I can get it. I've already run 11.1 miles this month, and since it's a shorter month, this is rather daring. However, I have "February Break" this month, which means way more time for running!!! So, there it is online world, 70 miles for the month of February.

Mini Goals: Add more yoga, and get to double digit long runs.