Theodora Archives - Page 5 of 7 - My Healthy, Happier Life

Hi guys! I’m Theodora, and I blog over at Losing Weight in the City about how I maintain my 50-pound weight loss without sacrificing any of my fun, single girl in NYC lifestyle. I’ve loved reading Ashley’s Marathons and Moderations series and am happy to contribute to it.

While I usually like to approach everything in moderation, including moderation, training for a marathon makes this difficult.

I mean, seriously. Try going out for a night of drinks the night before you’re going to run 20 miles. Or after you’ve run 20 miles. Neither are particularly fun.

This picture was obviously not taken before or after 20 miles.

But as a single girl living in NYC, my social life (and alcohol) are things I refuse to give up during marathon training. But in order to not die while running, some moderation and making your training social is definitely needed. Here’s how I do it.

Happy Hour. Happy hour is my best friend during marathon training. If I don’t have a run planned for the next morning (and sometimes even if I do), you can usually find me at happy hour. It is much easier to recover from a drink or two and run six miles than it is to recover from a drink or two and run twenty. Plus, I can still get into bed early after happy hour and get plenty of sleep.

Sunday Funday. Really, finding different times to be social is the secret to my not going crazy during marathon training. If I’ve stayed in on Friday night and Saturday night because of my running schedule, I’m usually raring to go on Sundays. Sunday brunch or a Sunday Funday is a great way to feel like I’m not missing out on fun just because I don’t want to go out on a Friday or Saturday night.

Train with Friends. I don’t know if I would have been able to get through training for the Chicago Marathon last year without Ashley. We did most of our long runs together, chatting for hours and hours as we covered miles and miles. It helped me to think of marathon training as something fun and social, rather than something taking me away from my social life.

Don’t Miss Important Events. Unless you’re getting paid to run, it’s really not worth skipping important events to work in a long run. You can move around your schedule and find time to get your run in. I promise. Missing something important to get your run in will just make you resent running. I know it’s not always fun, but nursing a drink, or even (gasp!) drinking water beats missing out.

Embrace Step-Back Weeks. When you’re running 18 or 20 miles, a step-back week with a long run of 13 miles scheduled seems like a short run. (Because marathon training is crazy.) So, while I still don’t advocate going out and getting drunk the night before a 13-miler, go ahead and embrace it. Stay out a little later. Enjoy yourself.

One Glass is Probably Okay. This totally depends on the person, but I’ve found that, for me, I can handle a glass of wine the night before a long run without becoming too dehydrated. In fact, the night before my first 15-miler, I was way too nervous and one little glass of wine totally took the edge off.

Overdoing It Once in a While Won’t Hurt. A week before my marathon, I had a very late night. While I probably *shouldn’t* have done that so close to the marathon, I don’t think it hurt me much in the long run.

Plan Something Fun for After the Marathon. Or lots of something funs. Ashley and I got to know Fun Theodora and Fun Ashley very well once we finished our marathons. For me, crossing the finish line was well worth the months of sacrifice, but having lots of Fun Ashley and Fun Theodora nights after our marathons made us appreciate our free nights (as weird as they were at first) more than we ever had before.

So, while it does take quite a bit of sacrifice to train for and run a marathon, I think it’s totally possible to achieve moderation and keep an active social life.

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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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Good morning everyone! I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday! My morning started at 6 with a personal training session. This morning’s session was probably 60% arms, 20% legs, 20% abs which means that right now I can barely lift my iced coffee to my lips. Ouch!

Theodora and I are going to try and stretch out our muscles tonight at yoga so hopefully that will help my muscles. Or, by the last downward dog I may just want to crawl out of the yoga studio. We’ll see.

This morning’s commute was another steamer. The New York City subway system is a wonderful gift to have approximately 300 days per year. You don’t have to worry about snow blocking the roads, ice storms, or traffic. But, for two months each year you get to deal with every other person’s body odor, sweat, and stickiness. Trust me, it’s not pretty.

After such a hot commute, I was ready for a cool breakfast. An iced coffee along side banana cinnamon oats. After making the oats I stuck them in the fridge for 15 minutes to cool. It was a refreshing change!

I’m sure by now you all are wondering about today’s title. Outdoor dining in New York is lovely except when the city is a sauna.

Last night I met Gabriella, Theodora, and Tina at Birreria for a delicious dinner date. Located 14 floors above Madison Square Park, Birreria is Eataly’s rooftop restaurant and brewery which features fresh cask brews and delicious food. Unfortunately, fans are quite sparse up there which means we were each glistening by the time we left.

Last night’s experience was similar to my first in that the food and service was wonderful. I also had a chance to try a new beer and new salad which just proved to me that Birreria can do more than just sausage and beer well.

The weather held out, allowing us time to catch up on the rooftop deck. The conversation ranged from blog drama to Gabriella’s new culinary adventure.

After a bite of bread dipped in their delicious olive oil, I was excited for my entree.

Three of us went with this salad which was unexpectedly delicious. I ordered the insalata cotta cruda, with bibb lettuce, wax beans, potato, roasted onions, asparagus, tomatoes, olives, capers and red wine vinaigrette. The mix of capers, roasted onions, and mixed potatoes gave it a unique texture and the portion was just enough to leave me satiated but not stuffed.