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Vermont Priorities

Good morning from Vermont!

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It’s amazing how things can change over the years. We’ve been coming up to Vermont for 10 years and the Manchester Center Outlets used to be the highlight of my trip. We’d spend at least a day shopping through all the stores and leave feeling as if we’d accomplished a great deal by securing some amazing deals and a new season worth of clothing.

These days, our trips revolve around the outdoors. Since I arrived Thursday night we’ve spent more time outdoors than indoors and it has clearly become not only my priority but also my family’s. I’ve fallen back in love with this area so much that I’ve cancelled a Fall trip so I can come back up here to experience the fresh air, mountain hikes, late night fires, family, bike rides, and delicious wine and food.

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Since I’ve taken the weekend off to spend time with everyone, I’ll step back a bit and give you a few separate recaps, beginning with this weekend’s long run.

Since I didn’t have to fight the heat up here in Vermont I was able to sleep until 6:30 on Friday. After enjoying a half cup of coffee and peanut butter toast I headed down to the Manchester Center Post Office, my starting point for the run.

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My uncle who is an avid cyclist, was able to give me a great route which was exactly the right distance and included a few challenging hills. Starting at the post office gave me a safe starting point that could also easily be looked up on Google Maps in case I got lost.

IMG_3432Per Gia’s advice I did my best not to stress out about the run and instead focused on enjoying the gorgeous scenery, keeping my pace slow and steady, fueling appropriately, and enjoying myself. The two roads, River and Ridgeville Roads, where I ran were new to me which made the route even more fun as it felt like a bit of an adventure.

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I was able to successfully finish 13.1 miles in 2:15:22 with only 2 picture/fuel breaks which were each under one minute long!

 

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Coach Knows Best

I hope everyone had a wonderful Bastille Day yesterday! We ended up posing for this picture at Almond, while searching for perfect sangria after a celebratory dinner at Dos Caminos in honor of Meg and Lauren, below on the left, finishing NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute and finding an apartment in NYC!

I was in an especially celebratory mood last night since my second long run of marathon training was a great success!

As you know, Gia is coaching me this year for the New York City Marathon and after last week’s run I learned a valuable lesson. If I’m going to employ a coach because she is the expert, then I really need to listen to her.

Gia and I had a few pep talks during the week from which I put together a Friday checklist in preparation for Saturday’s long run.

  • Where my compression sleeves all day Friday.
  • Do some deep hip stretches Friday to help relieve the tightness.
  • Drink plenty of water all day Friday.
  • Don’t go out Friday night.
  • Drink a container of plain coconut water Friday evening.
  • Don’t eat too much or too heavy a carb rich dinner on Friday night.
  • Make sure that I have my CamelBak cleaned and filled with ice cold water for Saturday.
  • Buy Cliff Shot Blocks that I like so I’ll actually take them during my run.
  • Use my Garmin heavily for the run to ensure I’m keeping the pace slow.

It sounds like a lot and probably overkill for a 12 miler, considering that I’ll have far longer runs in the next few months, but the goal is for me to start getting accustomed to preparing and respecting the mileage. I can’t treat every run the same and therefore my long runs need to help Gia and I figure out what my marathon pace can be on November 4th without hitting the wall and bonking.

I woke up at 5:15 so I could eat breakfast and let the food settle some before my run. I also chugged a glass of ice cold NUUN after reading the research regarding the affects of ice water on athletes.

IMG_3376I left the house at 6 to log 1.5 miles on my own before meeting up with Kristin at 6:15. I know, I know, I was supposed to run by myself yesterday. But, when I saw her tweet asking if anyone would be running near Gramercy at 6:15 around a 10:30 pace I thought it was fate!

894c9b8acdbc11e1984522000a1e95e6_7 It was really nice running with a new friends and time flew by since we had plenty to talk about including, but not limited to marathon training. She actually got into New York City this year via the lottery! I am also more and more intrigued by the Gap Athletic workout line after she raved about her cute tank.

We ran 3 miles together across town and North on the West Side Highway until reaching Riverside Park.

IMG_3377IMG_3378I took these two pictures when I paused to hug her goodbye as she headed back downtown towards her husband and refueled with 2 Shot Blocks since I’d already done 4.5 miles and thought it was best to get fuel in me early.

I didn’t want to get stuck on the West Side Highway and don’t know the higher section well enough to know when I can cut East. Therefore, I cut over at the entrance to Riverside Park and headed towards Columbus Circle, weaving around to add some extra mileage.

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I entered at Columbus Circle and then did the bottom loop before heading towards the race corrals for the NYRR Race for Central Park with my friend Katie. I was thrilled to introduce Katie to her first NYRR race!

IMG_3380When I stopped at 8 miles I reviewed my mile splits so far and was happy to find that I was right on target, if not a tad faster than planned.

Mile 1 10:19
Mile 2 10:24
Mile 3 10:26
Mile 4 10:23
Mile 5 10:55 (1/2 uphill)
Mile 5 10:40
Mile 6 10:49
Mile 7 10:20
Mile 8 10:15

I told Katie that she should run her own race and enjoy the experience as I knew my legs weren’t going to love the stop and start. I expected my pace to drop for the last 4 miles but made it my goal to just finish and get the 9+1 credit and log the mileage.

The race itself wasn’t that interesting other than that I saw many friendly faces during and after the race including Sara, Stephanie, Meghan, and Ali! The park was alive with runners both in the race and completing their own runs.

The last miles were definitely tough and I hit a bit of a wall around 10.5 but I pushed through knowing I just wanted to be done. The race was packed yesterday which helped spread some much needed energy and luckily there were plenty of restrooms, one of which I finally had to use towards the end.

Mile 9 10:19
Mile 10 9:56 (caught up in the fun of the race)
Mile 11 12:20 (bathroom stop)
Mile 12 10:33

My goal wasn’t to PR this race, just to finish it and conquer some hills on tired legs. Running 12 miles at a slower pace (10:39) than I’ve kept in ages was definitely tough but the fact that I didn’t hit a full wall and was able to keep going and push through, even in the heat and humidity, reaffirmed for me that Gia is on to something!

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Week 2 of marathon training was an official success!

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Rest, Run, Yoga Repeat

Happy Saturday! The weekend has finally arrived and so far it is working out to be exactly what I wanted: lots of friends, lots of exercise, and lots of rest.

Yesterday was a rest day on my workout schedule which meant that I was able to sleep until 7:30 which is the perfect way to kick off the weekend if you ask me! After a long day, Bo nor I were in the mood to go out so instead we caught up on our DVR shows, popped open a bottle of Hob Nob Pinot Noir, and used my swag from Wednesday’s Electrolux event to make dinner.

014 Clearly I was excited for dinner at home made from quality products from one of our favorite New York boutique grocer, Dean & Deluca.  Paired with Beecher’s ricotta, this was a perfect meal which was done in minutes.

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019 This morning Bo and I woke up around 8 to meet the birthday girl for a ten mile run. This was Bo’s first double digit run back from injury and therefore we promised to stick together since he knew he’d be tempted to push his speed which could result in more injury.

In honor of Theodora’s birthday, I took a picture of my pre-run breakfast in the banana phone pose. Don’t worry, there was no calling it in on this run.

001My morning run partners are both far faster than I am and therefore I assumed they would end up running together while I followed a few paces behind. But, as we started running and the conversation flowed easily, I decided that I’d make it my goal to stick with them for as long as possible. This worked well when I at Mohegan Sun and figured this type of run mentality will get me more comfortable when running with faster people.  006003I’m not sure whether it was the falling snow, the surprisingly packed Central Park paths, or running into our favorite short clad speed demon but for one reason or another, this was my fasted double digit run ever! There is nothing like a 9:44 pace to make me realize that I have five more weeks to kick my butt before the half. I know I need to make sure I up the ante on my weekday runs just like I’m doing on my long runs.

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Bo and Theodora even pushed me to run the full Central Park loop instead of taking the easy way out and doing one lower loop and a reservoir loop. Right now my legs hate them, but hopefully I’ll thank them on March 17th when I the National Half Marathon’s hills feel like nothing! image I was soaked to the bone by the time I got home and craved nothing more than a warm shower and comfy clothes. Unfortunately for me, my schedule had other plans. Have I told you how bad I am at making sure I have enough down time? My mom could write a dissertation on the way I overscheduled myself. Oh well.

I had a yoga date with the lovely Kristin McGee whom I met at last week’s Target event. (Photo via Fitbottomed Girls)

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After our brief conversation at the event, she invited me to join her at any of the numerous studios where she teaches. I’m not one to turn down an offer like this, especially when it combines yoga with a new studio I’ve yet to visit.

This morning she was leading the 11:30 Vinyasa yoga class at Clay, a boutique gym located near Union Square. This gym really is the most Zen like gym I’ve ever visited.

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Does your gym have a fireplace and relaxing reading area complete with newspaper subscriptions and cafe that serves smoothies made with your choice of coconut water, almond milk, and more!

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The yoga class itself was amazing and exactly what my  body needed. The class only had eight people which meant that Kristin was able to adjust us throughout class and ensure that we had proper position. She knew that I was a runner and therefore focused my adjustments around the hip openers.

009I’m hoping to visit CLAY more in the future so I can provide a proper review but from this one taste, I’m definitely hooked and very interested to visit more of their classes and their spa!

Now it’s time to relax a bit before going out with friends for an evening of birthday fun.

Happy Saturday!       

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