My healthy happier life

ashleyd / July 24, 2011

NYCM Training Week 2 Recap: Running with Purpose

Week two of New York City Marathon training is officially complete. It was a hot week which meant there were many sweat filled workouts but overall, the week went well. While I was nervous how my legs would respond to the increased mileage this week; it felt great to finally hurdle the 20 mile mark this week and finish feeling strong. IMG_3344 (612x612)

As a recap, here is what my week looked like in terms of workouts:

Monday: 5 mile tempo run
Tuesday: An AM personal training session focused on legs and arms and a PM yoga session
Wednesday: 3 mile speed workout
Thursday: An AM personal training session focused on arms, back, and abs
Friday: After 7 straight days of exercise, I enjoyed every second of this complete rest day.
Saturday: A sweltering 9.75 mile run
Sunday: 4 mile recovery run on the treadmill

This week I learned to focus on the purpose of each run before I begin. This helps me plan the run in my head mentally and envision success. For example, Sunday recovery runs are all about having fun. Some weeks I may run them with a friend at a leisurely pace while most Sundays I’ll run at a relaxing pace on the treadmill while watching Real Housewives. The toughest runs for me right now are the Monday tempo runs. They will increase in distance as training season progresses and I think it’s really important that they are a solid start to the week. For this reason, my goal is to switch them up each week. Last week’s run was done on a treadmill but this week’s run will be outside. In fact, I may even include a bridge just to keep things interesting.

If you’re interested in following my runs closer, I’m logging every run and workout on dailymile during marathon training.

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ashleyd / July 24, 2011

Fur Balls and Beer Can Chicken

After 10 sweaty miles yesterday morning, the day ended with a pretty amazing afternoon and evening.

Bo and I headed over to Theodora’s apartment around noon to walk Bailey and give him some love and attention while his mom rocked her first triathlon! How can this face not make us want a dog? While the feelings are definitely there, for now I think we’ll just be Aunt Ashley and Uncle Bo who spoil Bailey at every chance.

After a quick visit, we attempted to save money and take the subway out to Queens for a celebratory barbecue that Lacey hosted in Theodora’s honor. After waiting at 2 platforms for more than 15 minutes and then finally being told that the subways weren’t running out there, we caught the first cab we saw. This is how we felt at that point.

But, within 15 minutes we were enjoying amazing friends, food, and beer so our attitudes changed quite quickly.

Theodora’s first tri experience may not have been all she had dreamed of but she sure as hell rocked it, especially the 5k, and was all smiles by the afternoon!

Since meeting Theodora a year ago, Bo and I have not only been blessed with her friendship but also her great friends Shannon and Lacey. shannonlacey (480x320)

Our food for the afternoon was beyond my wildest dreams. Lacey singlehandedly put together a delicious, fresh, and healthy feast that we all thoroughly enjoyed. Seriously, who knew that grilled romaine was so delicious? I’ll definitely ask Lacey to share the recipes with y’all.

The menu included:

Grilled beer can chicken
Grilled romaine
Grilled corn on the cob
Foil grilled peppers and onions
Healthy pasta salad
Assorted beers
Italian pastries and cookies

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Theodora’s adorable mom was even there for the party and brought tasty Italian pastries for us to enjoy.

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Though the trip out to Queens was quick, I’d say we all had a blast. The fun continued for us since Shannon is a rock star friend who not only wakes up at 4am to support Theodora’s triathlon endeavors by providing door to door car service, but she also volunteered to drive us back into the city. Who cares if Bo had a date in the back seat with Bruiser, it was a hell of a lot better than trying to track down a cab in the heat or deal with the subway chaos.

Bo and I are heading out to see Friends with Benefits but I’ll be back later with a recap of NYC Marathon Training week 2.

Question: What is your favorite healthy barbecue dish?

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ashleyd / July 23, 2011

A Hot 10 Miles through the City

So far this weekend has been perfect!

Last night, Melissa and I enjoyed a relaxing dinner together over delicious food while catching up on life and summer travels. I can’t believe it’d been almost a month since we saw each other!

Posto, which happens to be one of our favorite delivery places, is even better in person.

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We shared a the delicious arugula and bocconcini salad to start which included a light lemon vinaigrette dressing and chunks of mozzarella. Holy yum!

It was packed last night since no one opted to eat outside on their patio. I really wish the families had taken their crying children out their. I enjoyed four pieces of the personal Shroomtown pizza which is my all time favorite Posto pizza. If you’re a mushroom lover and you live in New York you have to enjoy this pizza! It comes topped with marinara sauce, cheese, Portobello, shitake, and button mushrooms!

By 9:30 I was in bed and resting my brain and legs with this week’s US Weekly. As I fell asleep, I also put together a new long run plan which switched things up a little bit.

Instead of sleeping until 6am, I was up at 5:30 in preparation for my long run.

For the first time ever, I filled out the important medical information section on the back of my bib. Based on the heat I thought the chance of collapsing mid run was higher than normal.

My pre-run breakfast was my normal slice of bread, almond butter, and banana sprinkled with a dash of salt. I also sipped on some G2 before heading out the door.

It as game time and regardless of the heat or humidity, I was ready to kick this run’s ass even if it was already 83 degrees with 69% humidity!

I decided to run straight to the NYRR Long Run start at 102nd street. The first four miles were slow and I focused on breathing and enjoying the morning sights rather than focus on the heat. Yesterday, when I asked Ali for suggestions she said not to think about the heat and she was right!

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I reached the park five minutes before the start and was amazed how many people showed up for the run considering the running conditions.

I lined up with the 10 minute pace group and planned to enjoy 6 slow and steady miles with them. The pacers kept telling us that they were going to keep more like a 10:30 pace due to the heat. I was fine with this but really questioned this as I experienced a similar story last year when I did a pace group training run before the marathon.

Regardless, my legs felt good having already racked a sweaty four miles and I was excited to conquer Harlem Hills in the first mile.

I stayed with the group for two miles, even though they were in no way keeping a 10:30 pace. Before my Garmin went into chirp overload and spazzed on me, it showed a 9:40 pace and others in the group were talking about the quick pace. I decided to slow my pace and hang out with my music for the next mile. Then, I heard someone calling my name from behind and finally met Meghan, one of my Twitter buddies who was rocking the long run. We chatted for a few minutes before I split off from the group and headed towards Columbus Circle.

Last night, I realized that if I ran the 4 miles to the park and then did 3 miles in the park, which would be a great hill workout, I could exit the park around Columbus Circle and run the final 3 towards Equinox for a foam rolling session.

I was hot, sweaty, and a little tired when I exited but more than anything ready to be done. My first mile out of the park was pretty slow, close to a 12 minute mile, as I was trying to lower my heart rate which was pretty high at this point.

But, the next two miles were flat and fast. My legs were heading home and they were ready!

I quickly made my way down Broadway past Times Square and Macy’s Herald Square (notice the Dolce&Gabbana Light Blue ad on the jumbotron?) in a little more than 20 minutes!

By the time I reached Equinox I was drenched and happy to be done but felt great overall!

Once I mapped my course, I discovered that I actually only did 9.76 miles, but I can’t complain! I finished in 1 hour and 39 minutes which is around a 10:10 pace; a huge improvement from last year!