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Thursday Musings

I have a lot on my mind tonight but unfortunately this cough, which I thought was finally gone, is driving me insane. So instead of fighting it any longer, I’m going to put these random musings into one post, curl up with some warm herbal tea and go to sleep early again tonight! Hopefully tomorrow I’ll finally have up another Friday Face Time, if my cough and sexy hoarse voice allows it.

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  1. Other than walking 20 blocks last night and tonight, I haven’t worked out since Sunday. While walking does allow for some beautiful New York moments such as the above, it just isn’t cutting it for me right now. For some, this lack of sweat may be nothing new but for me this is the longest I can remember going without a sweat session. Part of the break has been therapeutic. When I’m truly feeling sick I know my body is screaming for rest, nourishment and a break. But, now that I’ve been doing the whole 9-10 hours of sleep, soup for two of my three meals, and no workouts for more than 3 days I’m going a bit stir crazy. This leads me to my next point.
  2. I’m ready for a plan again! By the time I finished my second half marathon in March I was ready for a bit of a breather before I started training for Reach the Beach and the New York City Marathon. I never realized it would be this long of a training break due to my Papa’s funeral down in Savannah, a crazy work week, Hawaii, and now this dang annoying cold and cough. But, distance makes the heart grow fond and that is true for my legs and body. I’m looking forward to opening Gia’s training plan for Reach the Beach and dive in starting Monday. Until then, my goal for the weekend is to run 3-5 mile runs on Saturday and Sunday along with some plank and ab work.
  3. I miss weights. In three short weeks I’ve felt a lot of my headway slip away in the muscle definition department. I know some of this is a gross exaggeration but I’m ready to get back in the gym with Lauren and start amping the workouts back up. One change you’ll see is that one day a week I’m going to be with Lauren, my personal trainer, and the other day each week will be a boot camp workout that Bo and I will do together at Equinox, with Theodora tagging along if we can convince her! Bo loves boot camp style workouts and actually does a great job designing and leading them when we’re on vacation together.  While the twice a week workouts with our personal trainers were a great way to kick start our health and get us on track. we feel that we’re at the point now where we are ready to hold ourselves accountable for at least 50% of the work. Luckily our trainers are supportive of this plan and have even offered to help give us some workout ideas!

4.    Soup is great but sometimes you just have to change it up! After 6 meals of soup, I was more than ready to spice it up a bit today and lunch. I’ve been bringing Progresso soups which I bought on sale at the grocery store to save money and keep the sodium and calories in check. On the side of my soup this afternoon I enjoyed one of the most delicious and inexpensive sandwiches ever! A new little café has opened in my office building and they offer made to order sandwiches ranging from turkey and ham to delicious warm Caprese sandwiches. This sandwich, albeit only a half, felt like such an afternoon indulgence! This sandwich two basil leaves, three tomato slices, a roasted pepper quarter, and two slices of Buffalo mozzarella melted between nine grain bread.

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5. If I make it through my May and June travel schedule, I am treating myself to one hell of a cocktail and a spa day. Tonight one of my friends asked me why I’ve overscheduled myself for May and June. Walking home tonight, I laughed to myself as I realized that, for once, this schedule is in no part due to my doing. Only one of the trips, which was committed to months in advance, is related to anything having to do with something other than weddings, graduations, and work.  Our friends mean a great deal to us and we do everything in our power to make their weddings; which means that during May and June we’ll travel to Philadelphia, Chapel Hill, and Macon to toast their big day. In addition, it just so happens that my company needs me to travel heavily during May/June and September due to seasonal planning and market tours. It just so happens that all these events occur at the same time this year! So, if I seem to be traveling every week the next 7 weeks, it’s not an illusion and nor is it me exaggerating. But, what I can promise you’ll find here is someone who is going to fit in each of her damn workouts because feeling out of shape in July, the start of marathon training and peak of skimpy cute summer dress season, is worse than wearing white to someone else’s wedding.

Curious where my crazy travels are taking me? Houston, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Athens Georgia, Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chapel Hill, and Philadelphia.

Have a great night and catch you tomorrow!

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ashleyd /

It Must Be the Weather

It seems like everyone is feeling under the weather this week. I’m not sure if it’s the change in weather or just burning the candles at both ends but it seems like my co-workers and friends are either sneezing, aching, or coming down with fevers.

Yesterday, I thanked my body for not letting me come down with the same bug that Theodora and Anne dealt with yesterday. Just to be safe, I made sure to focus on getting back on track with healthy eating and working out yesterday. I drank plenty of water, sipped green tea, took all my vitamins, and worked out. I even had a better than normal Monday morning run yesterday, keeping a 6.3 pace on the treadmill for 5 straight miles.

Even though tit was a Monday and our refrigerator was almost bare, I came to the office prepared with a healthy lunch and snacks.

019 020 021 023Unfortunately, all this precaution did nothing because this evening I left work early feeling horrible. My body aches, my eyes are watery, and I’m burning up.

I’m going to make a simple dinner, sip on some Canada Dry, and cuddle into bed to watch last week and last night’s Gossip Girl episodes.

But, as promised, beginning today Tuesday posts will have a new addition posts called Tuesday Tips. Each week I’ll feature a few tips with y’all. The tips will not be limited to one topic but instead range the gamet from running, travel, beauty, etc. In case you didn’t know, growing up I wanted to be many things but one of those things was a research librarian. I guess this is my little way of living that dream. If you have questions, feel free to email them or leave a comment!

Tuesday Tips:

1) Do you live in New York City? Interested in hearing from famous figures such as Sandra Day O’Connor, Padma Lakshmi, Tommy Hilfiger, Jodi Picoult, Katie Couric, and others live in person? The 92nd Street Y Lecture and Readings Series allows you to do just that each week with an array of different speakers across a range of topics. Tickets range, depending on age and whether you’re a student but many are no more than $34!

2) Over the past few years I’ve tried numerous different mascaras and even invested over $90 every six weeks on fake lashes. My lashes are thin, short, and don’t hold a curl. On a whim, Tina and I bought Benefit’s They’re Real mascara at the Sephora in Mohegan Sun on Saturday, after the Wine Fest. Though it was a bit of a tipsy purchase at the moment and seemed quite expensive ($22) the next morning, I’ve been thrilled with the results. Yesterday and today multiple co-workers asked me what mascara I was using!

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3) Do you have a hard time keeping up with your hotel, airline, and rental car points? Check out Mile Blaster for a FREE tracker that will not only keep them all in one spot but also send you emails when your points are about to expire!

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Hills and Trains

Happy Thursday! I hope you all have had a wonderful week. Right now my body is feeling like an old lady. I guess this week’s workouts, or more so their intensity, have caught up with me.

  • Monday: Run
  • Tuesday: Personal training session + 90 minutes power yoga
  • Wednesday: 4 mile hill workout with Gia
  • Thursday: Personal training session

    • Last night’s hill workout was unlike anything I’ve ever done. One of my goals is to run with a group once a week since I find that I push myself more when I’m around others. It’s that natural tendency to want to run faster than the next person, if you know what I mean. When Gia mentioned that she was the new run coach for the Madison Avenue Lululemon I knew I’d be taking the subway uptown after work a few Wednesdays a month.

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This adorable run coach may look sweet but she puts together a hell of a quad and glute killing workout! I don’t want to steal her thunder, since she was so kind to put it on her blog, even with treadmill conversions. Head over to her site and bookmark yesterday’s post for a rainy day when you want a challenging treadmill workout. Your race times will thank her but your ass will hate me for suggesting it.

I woke up this morning wishing I could cuddle further into the pillows and sheets instead of meeting my personal trainer.  But, like everyone says, within an hour I was happy I had gone and had even shown her my headstand, proving that it wasn’t a once in a lifetime moment. Yes, I promise I’ll take a video or picture for y’all soon.

As usual, my hunger was unstoppable after my personal training session. I silenced the beast with an oats, Uncle Sam’s cereal, chia seeds, and banana bowl.

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Three hours later my stomach was screaming so I had a handful of almonds and a tangelo.

001 This little orange beauty has become my favorite winter fruit, enjoyed at least once daily. In fact, if you are looking for a great sweet treat that can be enjoyed at the office, in the car, or just about anywhere I highly recommend tangelos. They are easy to peel and are larger than clementines so I find that I’m more satiated.

This afternoon I had the chance to use my favorite mode of transportation, Amtrak Acela, thanks to  a quick business trip down to Philadelphia.

003 I find that traveling via train is so refined and refreshing.

016There are no security lines, plenty of legroom, ample overhead space, free wireless, and their cafe car serves an astonishing assortment of food and beverages, including wine!

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While enjoying the view out the window and cranking through some emails I ate a delicious Zaro’s salad. I always recommend the Penn Station Zaro’s for anyone who is traveling via Amtrak as it has fresh salads, sandwiches, and wonderful service.

007The trip back was equally enjoyable as my co-worker and I enjoyed miniature bottles of wine and kicked back to relax.

019While Acela is definitely more expensive than regular Amtrak it’s often more convenient when you need to get somewhere quickly, such as a business trip, or when it’s a destination where you’d normally fly otherwise. For example, taking Acela up to Boston or Washington, DC for a 2 day weekend trip is sometimes more advantageous than spending 6 hours in a bus or 4 hours on a train. It all depends on your schedule. I do have two Amtrak tips that I’ve discovered over the past few months.

  1. Join Amtrak Rewards for great email discounts and to accumulate points. I was able to save 20% on this Acela trip even though it was booked just a few days out.
  2. Planning in advance can definitely save you money on Amtrak, both regional and Acela. If Bo and I were to buy tickets down to Philadelphia today for June, it’s only $32 each way!

Okay guys, I’m supposed to run 10 miles tomorrow morning bright and early. Though the morning weather schedule isn’t in my favor, I’m going to finish it one way or another!

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