Weekly Workouts (9/22-9/29)

Whooop Friday eve — anyone else lovin’ that? I totally started this post yesterday and, um, yeah. Here we are.

So, I may not be marathon training (like for real now, that’s definitely out the window and I’ve relinquished my grasp on any last lingering false half-hopes that I miiiiight be one of those miracle people who can run a marathon without training for it), but I’m not slacking on my workouts/runs despite being so.freaking.busy, so I’m calling that a success! 

Thurs, 9/22: 4-mile morning run; push-ups; abs (planks & leg raises); air squats.
Fri, 9/23: Rest from running. Ty and I went for a 4-mile speedwalk along the Hudson River path at during sunset, which was really nice, and felt necessary considering my legs were sooooo sore from an all-the-legs workout on Wednesday.
Sat, 9/24: ELTON JOHN DAY! We had a plan to leave early for the Poconos, so I was up and out before 8am for a 7-mile run. Felt good to have that over with.
Sun, 9/25: 7-mile sunset run = beautiful, and felt like the best way to end my weekend.
Mon, 9/26: hmm i honestly can’t remember if I did anything this day or not? maybe rest?
Tues, 9/27: 3.5 mile morning run. Drizzly out, rather slow pace (around a 9-minute mile average, I’d guess), but felt good after it was over!
Wed, 9/28: 60 mins of strength and abs this morning: kettle bells (swings, round-the-body toss, squat-curl-tricep combo), TRX back rows, allll the push-ups (tricep push-ups and wide push-ups using the Perfect Push-Up handles), air squats, in-out jump squats, lunges, back/shoulders/arms using 5-lb plates.
Thurs, 9/29: 4-mile morning run. Having some weird hip/leg pain that feels like nerve pain (??) so took it slow, but otherwise felt really good. As much as I will bemoan the end of summer along with everyone else, I am loving fall running. NYC in Autumn is magic.

Total weekly mileage: 25.5

Totally fine with that, and while I’d love to set the goal of running at least 30 miles a week, a lot of it just comes down to time in the mornings for me. Maybe if I get to bed at 9pm (I like a lot of sleep don’t judge me), I can actually get up at 5 or 5:30 and start earlier. For now, I’m doing what I can!

Songs of the week:
“Talk Too Much” by Coin
“Cold Water” by Biebs and Major Lazer

How’s the running going? Who has a big race coming up?
Best thing about your city in the fall?

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There Are No Words for Magic

As the only daughter of a music-crazed father who raised me with a fierce appreciation for Oldies, some of my earliest and most cherished memories involve my family and I singing along to the radio in the car or listening to albums in our living room. Music was an integral aspect of my daily life growing up, and I knew all the words to every song on Oldies radio. The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Zombies, The Monkees, America, Simon & Garfunkel — they sang the tunes that serve as the soundtrack to my childhood, and I’m so thankful that my parents instilled such a passionate love of music in my brother and me, as it’s played such a large role in our identities.

But there’s always been one singer/song writer who has stood out for me above the rest, more and more so as I’ve matured, and who has become a “bucket list” item for me… and on Saturday night, at the Mohegan Sun Arena nestled into the heart of the Poconos Mountains in Wilkes Barre, PA, this life dream of mine came true as I saw him in concert:

Sir Elton John, you are everything music should ever aspire to be. Epic, iconic, legendary, incredible, beyond comprehension and words. It was literally a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’m so sosososo thankful my wonderful boyfriend surprised me with. That photo is from my seat, which was so close to him! He put on the absolutely most incredible show and sounded fantastic and was so charming and entertaining and and and I can’t say enough. And he played all his hits: Rocket Man, Tiny Dancer, Your Song, Daniel, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Levon, Candle in the Wind, and closed the night with a crowd-participatory version of Crocodile Rock that had everyone dancing on their feet and grinning ear-to-ear. It was pure magic, through and through. 

Moments before Sir Elton took the stage…and the face I wore all night.

Aside from the wonderful show, the rest of the weekend was fantastic as well. It was book-ended by two 7 mile runs: one early on Saturday morning before we set off for the Poconos, and the other late last night as the sun set on Sunday. It’s not often I run at night, but I loved everything about last night’s run and felt so thankful to end my weekend like that.

On the way to the Poconos on Saturday, we stopped at Sorrenti’s Cherry Valley Vineyards to see what Pennsylvania wine was all about (and mainly because I love anything and everything associated with the word “vineyard”). It was an absolutely gorgeous day — have I mentioned that I’m obsessed with September? — and Tyler’s first time ever at a vineyard/winery, so we were in love with our lives on this glorious day.

We sampled some of their wines in the rustic tasting room, where for $4 you get to taste your choice of any six, and keep your glass to boot. Sold.

They also have an Italian restaurant boasting brick oven pizza on the property, so we happily lounged outdoors on the spacious patio for a bit and each sipped a glass of red, and I think I succeeded in convincing him that we should go to Napa & Sonoma in the near future to expand his winery experiences. I mean, I’m only thinking of him here.

On Sunday, after the best concert ever happened the previous night, we woke up and drove into town and lucked into finding a gem of a French brunch place in Wilkes Barre called Le Manhattan Bistro.

Located in an old bank building, it was a spacious, inviting restaurant with amazing vaulted ceilings and an impressive menu (and as usual, I forget to take food pics…whoops!). Such a fun find, and a delicious way to end our Poconos stay.

I’m still reeling from how fantastic of a weekend this was, and so ready to go on all the road trips I can possibly take this fall! Thank you, boyfriend, for making this such an epic, memorable weekend of which I loved every single moment. ❤

What experiences are on your bucket list?
Been to any cute little towns lately?
Favorite Elton John song?? 🙂

Weekends Should Never End

The definition of time flies: Summer Saturdays & Sundays.

Sunny Sunday in Bryant Park

Seriously — where do those S-days go? When I become Rearranger of the Universe, we will have many more weekend days than we currently do. You can quote me on that.

*Side note:  I know you can’t see much of it above but I found an adorable romper on Amazon that was such a surprisingly great find for only $20 and now think I’m becoming a believer in the romper trend. Really good quality for the price, just listen to the reviews and size up (I usually am a small and this medium fit perfectly).

Running. It was beautiful here both days this weekend, so even though I didn’t get any crazy big runs in as we had to be down to the Jersey Shore (not crazy Jersey Shore –think quiet, lovely little beach where football players have houses) early on Saturday, I had two pretty decent runs: a 4-miler on Saturday am and a slow and easy 8-miler last night. I have zero photos to show from my sunset run along the Hudson but let me assure you it was lovely.

I’m no closer to making a marathon decision as I only clocked in 12 miles total this weekend, and I should be running 18 at a pop…but I’ll see how September goes and how my body feels and take it from there. I’m praying for lots of 70s and humidity-free days!

Eating. In other news, I tried this last night for the first time and am now insta-obsessed:

Dairy isn’t my friend and so I rarely eat ice cream, but this almond milk frozen dessert in my all-time favorite flavor was soooooo good. Will be buying on repeat for sure.

Drinking. The boy and I also tried our hand at making wine slushies, as I was super excited about that endeavor, and we were pleasantly surprised with our first attempt! We froze a bottle of Josh Cabernet into ice cube trays overnight, then blended them in the morning with a bag of mixed frozen berries and added a few packets of natural sugar…annnnnd success. Such a perfect summery drink!

(Not my photo but very close to what ours looked like in color/consistency.)

Reflecting. So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about perfectionism and how we do ourselves such injustices by allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good (this is also a theme in the book I’m reading so I definitely recommend Daring Greatly if you want to delve into this more).

 

It’s often so true, though, and I think affects everyone in different areas of our lives at different times. If we constantly strive for the ideal of perfection, which is an impossible construct that we will never achieve (and no objective version of perfection can exist anyway as we all see things from our subjective POVs), we sell ourselves short and miss the wonder and beauty in everything around us that might very well be so darn good but just shy of what we consider perfect.

How does this apply to me? Gah, in so many ways. Realizing that the 8-mile run I do do is better than the 20-miler I don’t and feeling pride in that accomplishment rather than disappointment in what I didn’t do. The blog post I write that may feel all over the place and “purposeless” is still a reflection of what I have to give that day, as opposed to the two weeks I spend not writing because I’m not sure I’ll be interesting enough to read. That book I’m always talking and dreaming about writing? Once I let go of what it means to write “the perfect book,” maybe I’ll actually start getting something out — and whatever I do write will be far better than the idea in my head that never gets put onto paper.

There’s so much freedom found when we learn to ease up on ourselves and embrace the reality of what we can do, rather than be paralyzed into inaction by thoughts of failing at what we see as the perfection we must achieve.

So be gentle with yourselves, friends, and don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for the things you do accomplish and take risks even if the result is “good enough” as opposed to “perfect.” Because sometimes our “good enough” is more amazing than we think. ❤

Something good from your weekend?
Anyone else jump on the wine slushie fad?
What are you learning about yourself these days?

Marathon Training: Week 3

So this was my third week of marathon training (but week eight of the plan I chose, as I started at week 6 but had been running 4-5 days a week anyway so it wasn’t an issue), and even though I’m taking some liberties with the plan and adjusting as needed, I’m feeling good about it so far — despite the insane heat and humidity we’ve had here in NY! The weather decided to be increasingly oppressive in perfect alignment with my training, as if I needed an extra obstacle to push through and make me feel more bad-a$$. Hey, God gives us what He knows we can handle, right?? 🙂

Thurs, 7/21: 4.2 miles at 6am (plan said 4), just under 35 minutes; a bunch of push-ups (tricep and regular). 

Fri, 7/22: Rest. I intended to do strength at the gym this morning but could not get myself out of bed, which is rare for me, even after 8 hours of sleep. My body felt like dead weight.

Sat, 7/23: 11 hilly, HOT miles. arrrmygahd it was hot, and I should have gotten up earlier to start my run — 8:45 was hot already — but I felt surprisingly good otherwise and really content with my strength and ability to push through a long, hilly run on such a blazing hot day. I was checking my time for the first 7-8 miles but after a while just let that go and let myself push through and try to enjoy it. My plan called for 7 on Sat and 14 on Sunday, so this day should have been my 14-er, but I was so happy with my 11 in this weather that it still felt like a success. I was literally pouring my water bottle all over me and kept stopping at Stewart’s (anyone not from Upstate NY probably has no idea what this is?!) to fill it up and splash water on my face. Oh, and this is also the run where I almost got hit by a car, driven by an old woman who clearly needs to re-take her driving test. She was stopped at a right light, so I stopped, made sure she wasn’t moving, and then went to cross — and she pulled out, right into me. Like, literally. I had to slam my hand down on the hood of her car and throw my hips out just to keep from getting nailed in the knees. #scariestrunningmomentyet

Sun, 7/24: 5.25 hilly, hot miles at 8:30am. My weekend total was just over 16, and the plan had called for a total of 21, so I was 5 miles short and could not have cared less. I braved some of the hottest weather we’ll probably have all summer for those miles, and my only options upstate are to run hills the whole time, soooo….yeah. Success, in my book. And it’s my book that counts here. 🙂

Mon, 7/25: Rest from running; upper body strength instead. My quads were pretty sore from all the hills over the weekend — that good, feeling-so-accomplished sore — and Mondays are supposed to be “Cross” days (which we know I don’t do), so I did an hour of upper body with 10lb weights and lots of push-ups while watching The Bachelorette (inconsistent guilty pleasure that sometimes rears its superficial head) and 6 minutes of planks. Did the trick!

Tues, 7/26: 5 miles at 6am. Plan called for 4; I felt great. It was mega humid and 75 degrees, but I felt really good and 5 seemed like an optimal number to run.

Wed, 7/27 (today): 5.25 miles at 6am. Plan called for 7; I only really had time for 5, annnd it was already 80 degrees. I looked like I’d jumped into the Hudson River by the end…but it felt sooooo good to have it done.

Total weekly mileage: 30.7. I wasn’t keeping track of what I’d run as I went through the week, so just figuring this number right now makes me so happy. I don’t know the last time I hit 30 miles in a week, and to feel this good and injury free feels amazing. I have high hopes for this training and am praying I continue to feel that way!

Song of the week: “Waterfalls” by LVNDSCAPE

Runners: How’s the hot weather running/training going? Anyone else always seem to “forget” that as lovely as it is to run a fall marathon, you’re training in the blistering summer heat?!

Give me a song, please!!

Friday Five: July Loves

This is how I’m feeling right about now:

Ready for flip flops & summer skies & carefree everything — feeling those weekend vibes! Hope you’re counting down to something fun this weekend, wherever you are.

Today’s Friday Five linkup with the DC ladies Mar, Cynthia & Courtney is a “Free Friday,” which I’m interpreting as July Loves (aka things I’m loving this month).

ONE: Casual Fridays. This is a sweet perk about my new job that I haven’t had before, and I’m loving it. I’m actually wearing pants (obsessed with these wide-leg linen pants I got in Chicago this spring) for the first time since I started working here and it’s so nice to be so comfy at work. It also helps create such a laid-back atmosphere, which is always welcome on a trading floor. 

TWO: Balance board. We have standing desks at work, so my friend who sits next to me had the brilliant idea of ordering balance boards to stand on!

So rad, and totally catching on — I wouldn’t be surprised if a bunch more people will jump on this bandwagon! (I bought this one off Amazon.)

THREE: Rosé. All day. This has definitely been the drink-of-the-month for me…and every other white girl in America, I know I know. Hey, if the shoe fits…

FOUR: Marathon training. Having a plan for my running is a nice change again and I’m excited about sticking to it and mapping my progress. Also doesn’t hurt that I just got these babies my second week into training and am loving tackling a race with a fresh pair of kicks!
Feels oh-so-good. This will actually be my first full marathon in Nikes, now that I think of it! I ran the Brooklyn Half this May in these exact sneaks (diff pair/color) and have been having so much success with them this year, so it’s out with the Asics and in with the swoosh. I find I tread much lighter in these and haven’t had any shin pain thus far, so I’m praying they do me well all the way through. 

FIVE: Athleta. I love Lulu’s sports bras like no other, but I’m definitely a fan of Athleta’s colorful tights/capris and just got a new pair this week:

Their Mesh Sonar Capris in this cobalt color = so cute. I felt like I had to give them a shout-out today because they’re having an awesome sale right now that you definitely want to check out: an extra 20% off their already reduced sale items thru Monday 7/25. DO IT.

Hope you have a lovely weekend, friends! Mine will be full of running, fruit, lake time and people I love…in other words, exactly how I like my world to be. ❤

Whatcha up to this weekend?
Anyone else drink copious amounts of rose in the summer? Any favorite kinds?

Weekly Workouts (7/7-7/13)

I’m pretty stoked that my weekly workouts Wednesday posts will be tailored around my marathon training from now til October, as I think the accountability will be good for me and it’ll be interesting to see just how closely I adhere to the Hal Higdon plan and what adaptations I need to make for my personal marathon training journey. My #1 priority is staying injury-free and healthy and feeling good throughout this, so I know for sure that I do not want to over-train and burn out. I’m all about running 3-4 days a week if that’s what my body needs some weeks and am not stressin’ about maintaining a 5-day weekly running schedule if it’s too much for me as the mileage begins to build.

All that to say, I’m living the flex life with this training when necessary. Shin splints, don’t you dare do it. Don’t even think about it this year.

Thurs, 7/7: (rest day from running) upper body & abs sets: push-ups (regular and tricep); biceps & flys with 10lb weights; planks; bicycles
Fri, 7/8: 2.5 miles on treadmill (first ‘mill run in ages, and after work for once – had to get some sweat time in somehow that day!); upper body: 25-lb kettlebell exercises; arms, shoulders & back with 5-lb plates; push-ups (regular and tricep); 3 minutes planks
Sat, 7/9: early 9-mile run along the Hudson River path/Riverside Park. This felt wonderful and was much-needed, as I spent the rest of the day drinking rosé on Governor’s Island. 🙂
Sun, 7/10: 4-mile run along the river (downtown to Chelsea this time)
Mon, 7/11: rest (although even on my rest days I walk a few miles around the city, so that counts, right??)
Tues, 7/12: 3.75 mile run, 6:30am & humid. This was the first day I was like, “Okayyyy, time to start following a marathon plan!” It called for a 3-mile morning, but some days you just feel like an over-achiever.
Wed, 7/13 (today): 5.11 miles (plan called for 5 – why did I ever run without my Garmin? I love knowing the exact mileage. #runnerd), 6am & humid again. Love my morning runs but totally not loving the morning humidity lately!

Total weekly mileage: 24.36

Thoughts: Running happy this week! Feeling good about tackling this training cycle. Had a little IT band pain for 2 days early this week but hit the foam roller immediately and it honestly helped a lot – I know I need to keep that as my BFF throughout this process and use it daily.

How’s the running going? What’re we training for?
How do you pep talk yourself through your most humid runs? When I start to really feel the heat and feel sluggish, I remind myself that cold weather is much worse and I stick my head under every water fountain I pass. Ahhhh love that feeling. 🙂 

Pinknic & Beach Bummin’

This weekend was a best weekend. So much so, that I have no choice but to link up with Katie for my first Marvelous in my Monday post in a while, because, well — my weekend was nothing short of mar-vel-ous.

I’m talking jam-packed from start-to-finish with all sorts of wonderful people & events & activities & food & fun. I honestly can’t think of anything I’d have rather done this weekend than exactly what I did. Riding that high pretttyyyy nicely this Monday morning.

When the boy arrived on Friday evening, we set off for our first highly-anticipated weekend adventure: a dinner date trip to Pokeworks, a casual Hawaiian poke place near Bryant Park, where we took our food and had a lovely little park date dinner.

This build-your-own poke bar was such a stellar choice, and we quickly agreed we’d be back soon (and often). He had a Pokiritto (White Rice & Seaweed Wrap) with ahi, salmon and shrimp, and I chose a salad option with ahi, salmon, and so many yummy toppings (ginger, wasabi, scallions, garlic, mango, seaweed). I could seriously eat this all.the.time. His only gripe was that it didn’t fill him up, but that’s easily fixable — two orders next time for the boy, please.

We also stumbled upon a nice little surprise at the nearby wine store in the form of this hard-to-find-in-NYC bottle for which we’ve been looking for months now, popping into every wine store we pass to ask if they have this cab sav we stumbled upon at a West Village speakeasy this winter and really enjoyed: Owens & Vaughn.

So happy this actually exists in NYC! We somehow managed to refrain from drinking it this weekend (you’ll see why in a moment), so I’m already looking forward to enjoying it upstate at the lake next weekend.

Thanks to a quiet Friday night, I pumped out a felt-so-good 8-mile run on Saturday morning (woot!) before we dressed up in pink & white and met our friends for a full day double date at NYC’s first Pinknic at Governor’s Island!

This was my (and Ty’s) first time to Gov Island, which is literally a 5-minute ferry ride from downtown Manhattan. It was so fun to see all the pink & white clad pinknic-ers festively gathering to drink rosé and lounge around all day. After all, isn’t that what Saturdays in Summer are designed for?

This was the inaugural event, and we were glad we went and had a wonderful time drinking allll the sparkling rosé and playing Phase 10 (do yourself a favor and buy that immediately if you don’t have it) and picnicking to our hearts content. We all felt that the event could really benefit from making some organizational changes in future years, however. The line to get in was an absolute nightmare and they clearly needed a lot more people working the entrance to expedite that process, as we stood in line for about 45 minutes; there didn’t seem to be enough pink blankets spread out for everyone (although we found one easily, thankfully); they ran out of sparkling wine toward the end, and the boys said the wine tables weren’t organized intuitively either. We agreed we probably would just buy our own bottles of wine and recreate this in a park next year, but we had a blast and are glad we experienced it.

Sunday started with another morning run for me, a 4-5 miler this time, before we set out for a day of that beach bum life at the Rockaways. This beach community in Queens is where my mom grew up going, and it was another first for me this weekend that totally did not disappoint. The area was devastated by Sandy and then rebuilt beautifully, with a wide boardwalk and beach bar, and is a haven for surfers. An easy hour subway ride from NYC, you feel like you’re transported to an entirely different world than the one you just left — one much more California-esque than NYC, which we loved.

The highlight of the Rockaways (aside from the beach, of course) is definitely the raddest bar I’ve been to in NYC: The Rockaway Beach Surf Club, which also houses an uber popular taco stand inside it called Tacoway Beach.

This place was everything an authentic beach/surf bar should be, IMO, and I wish I owned it/lived there/lived close enough to make it my regular hangout. We drank frozen watermelon margaritas and ate delicious little tacos (grilled tofu for me, which were yum) and played Phase 10 yet again, and felt like we’d found the bar on the East Coast that best fit our personalities and beach bum dreams. Seriously, I already cannot wait to go back.

So, that was my marvelous weekend in a nutshell! Hope you guys had amazing weekends as well.

Weekend highlight?
Best beach by you?
What’s your ideal bar/hangout? Surf bum style for me, all the way!

Thinking Out Loud Thursday

I’m back to posting 2 days consecutively?! I was starting to think this might not happen for a bit, so I’m glad to have surprised myself!

Linking up with Miss Amanda at Running with Spoons for TOLT.

ONE: Rosé all day, anyone? Weather permitting (I’m totally doing a rain dance on Friday night as this forecast looks the woooorst), that’s what I’ll be doing this Saturday afternoon, with the man and two of our close friends. Governor’s Island, an island a short ferry ride from downtown Manhattan, is hosting the very first rosé-themed picnic aka “Pinknic“ (my inner wordnerd gets a kick out of that). They spread the grounds out with pink blankets and we bring our own picnics, and we all wear pink & white and listen to bands and sip rose all day like there’s nothing else in the world we’d rather be doing. I have my pink & white dress all ready to go!

TWO: Continuing on with the rosé theme, my roommate and I finally visited this really cute, off-the-beaten-path wine bar in our neighborhood we’d been eyeing for a while called Ardesia. It was a sold spot; nice patio, large indoor space, good service, fun summer cocktails and very reasonably-priced bottles of wine. We chilled outside with a bottle of rosé champagne and agreed it was a very return-able choice of a local jaunt.

The indoor space is pretty big and has a split-level room raised to the side of the bar, and I love the floating wine rack in the back and the chalkboard mural walls. Really cool vibe.

THREE: I mentioned I started a new job in June, right? Well, I’m happy to report that almost a month in and I’m really glad with the move. Sometimes you need to change things up to find out that life can be smoother, after all. The people are great, it’s an easy walk from my apartment, and there’s a juice truck right outside the building. Boom.

FOUR: Speaking of work perks…I currently have a ginormous television above my desk (trading floor life) and am enjoying watching the France vs. Germany soccer game. Not quite a communal table at a biergarden, but hey…I’m not complaining.

FIVE: For the past 4 months(ish), I’ve been exclusively a Nike runner…and I love it. Although many factors could be at play and I can’t attribute my “running feels oh-so-good-lately” vibe 100% to the sneaks, I definitely believe they’ve played a huge role, and I’m sticking with ’em. Just ordered a new pair of the same ones, in a slightly diff color: Zoom Fly 2, take 2. And add fluorescent yellow.SIX: Does anyone else eat the skin of kiwis, or am I seriously the only one? I bite those babies like apples. I’m not sure when I decided this was acceptable — sometime within the last year, I think? – but it doesn’t bother me at all. The guy who sits beside me asked me today (upon watching what is apparently the weirdest thing ever) if I also eat bananas with the peel on them. Pretty sure that was rhetorical.

SEVEN: Do you ever just want to post pictures of you and your boytoy because he’s the cutest thing ever and you can’t stop? Plus, festive holiday weekend clothing. Win.

EIGHT: I felt like I had so much more to say today (finally!) but I’m off to drink cocktails out of teapots and Gatsby-style champagne glasses at my new fave Midtown spot, so I’ll just say HAPPY FRIDAY EVE, friends!

Tell me something random from your day?

Work (some changes!) & Play (much needed)

Hi, friends! Gosh, I miss all of you. It feels like forever!

Life is good. Life is hectic and crazy and changing, but it’s (mostly) good.

I’ve been in NYC for 5.75 years, and I’ve had the same day job the entire time — until Monday. I went from working at one Canadian bank (red) to another Canadian bank (green); from downtown Manhattan to midtown; from biking/subwaying to work to a 20-minute walk across town (love that!). This is a huge change for me, which I’m hoping will be all sorts of positives, aside from missing my many coworkers-turned-friends at the red bank. It certainly makes my life easier as I can now walk everywhere — from home to work to my therapy office back home — most days, I’m living in a neat little circle.

So, this is a big change, and the craziness of tying up a near six-year job the past two weeks kept me away from blogging. Something had to go, and it wasn’t going to be my therapy clinicals, my running or my friends, sooooo…there ya have it. I’m hoping these prolonged blog absences don’t become a “thing,” as I always do feel the void of not writing, but I feel like I’m trying to juggle so much right now that it gets a bit overwhelming and exhausting, to be quite honest. I want to sleep for a week.

It’s also forced me to think a lot lately about the purpose of work in our lives, and how much of our time and energy is spent devoted to that one little four-letter word that encompasses the majority of our days. It can be such a difficult world to navigate and so often doesn’t turn out the way we thought it would. I struggle on a daily basis with not using what I know to be my God-given gifts for my career purposes and with trying not to become easily discouraged and keep working toward what I want, but it can be hard. I know so many of us experience this at some point, but I feel like it’s been part of my story for so many years, and I’m so ready to have it behind me and start living a life focused entirely on my passions, talents and strengths. Ever just feel like enough is seriously enough?

I’m living there these days.

So! That’s a big part of what’s going on with me. On a happier note, other things have been good: it’s summer, I’ll be at the lake this weekend, and running is going really well. I ran a collective total just shy of 20 miles last Fri, Sat  & Sun, and felt good and strong and pain-free. I managed to drag myself up to run 4 miles this morning as well, which felt like a huge accomplishment given how utterly exhausted I was throughout the run!

I’ve also had a little more girl time in the past week, which has been great, and reminded me just how thankful I am to have such lovely, amazing friends.

This photo from last Friday was snapped at the cozy, attic-style speakeasy The Garrett in the West Village, about which I’ve blogged previously:

Three of the four of us actually ordered that delicious green cocktail pictured above, called The First Lady, which was gin based and contained matcha green tea, lemon, fresh basil and a frothy egg white finish — totally unique and I enjoyed it, but probably wouldn’t order more than one, as it had a very distinct, herby flavor.

Saturday morning started off with a quick 4-miler before I headed out to an all-day birthday celebration for a girlfriend, which started with a champagne rooftop brunch at her apartment that she adorably dubbed “Bagels & Bubbles,” which was obviously a fantastic mimosa party,

before we took our party dresses and June-happy selves off to the Belmont Stakes race track in Long Island. Giddyup!

It was a very fun, very long, very “I’m definitely losing my voice today” day, and I was on the couch watching How to be Single by 8:30pm with sore feet, tired eyes and a very happy heart. It was the perfect ending to a hectic, crazytown of a week.

So that’s my catch-up for the time being — hopefully I’ll be back in action again here more regularly from now on.

Best part of your week?
Anyone else feeling so runhappy because of the weather lately?
What’s your fave thing to do in summer?

Weekly Workouts (5/19-5/25)

Since I ran a half on Saturday, pretty much all of my workouts this past week revolved around either prepping, resting, or recovering from that (aside from the actual race, of course). I feel like I did a great job of doing exactly what my body needed both before and after this race, as I’m feeling awesome and healthy and at such a good place.

Thurs, 5/19: Morning 45-minute upper body & abs strength session, followed by a 4 mile (fast) walk to work. I was all about the long walks in the few days leading up to the race, which proved to be a great choice.

Fri, 5/20: Exact duplicate of the previous day’s workout. I have to admit, two days in a row of a lot of upper body (kettlebells, free weights, plates, push-ups, rows, etc) felt really good, and reminded me that I need at least 2-3 days of this a week. another 3.5-4 mile walk to work (distance varies depending upon how many piers I include), and the reverse walk home as well, for a total of 7+ miles of fast walking. The boy and I then went for a couple mile walk that night when he got in as well, as he wanted to stretch his legs, so this was a good day of [walking] miles for me.

Sat, 5/21: Brooklyn Half! 13.1 miles in 1:53:21, at an 8:39 avg pace, which felt really comfortable and good the entire time. Stoked about this race overall and how well I felt.

Sun, 5/22: We woke up at 8am and went for a lovely 6-mile walk before church, as we were both a bit sore/tight and figured a good morning jaunt would help us stretch out the kinks, as well as provide us with some lovely Hudson River selfie backgrounds.

Mon, 5/23: I walked to work again — still felt a bit of quad soreness and decided I didn’t want to start running again til I felt great.

Tues, 5/24: Exhaustion slammed me in the face this morning and I could not get up with my alarm for a strength workout – I slept as late as possible while still having time to walk to work. This is becoming a welcome pattern and I’m loving long walks lately. I don’t listen to music on my walks, which I always do while running, so it provides some nice quiet time for me to think/reflect/pray, and I’m coming to really covet this.

Wed, 5/25 (today): Ran 6 miles before 7am – felt amazingggg! So glad I gave myself those few days to recover fully because this morning’s run felt great, and I kept it between an 8:20-8:35 pace the entire time. It was humid but otherwise a lovely morning, and supposed to be 90 here today! Whattttt??!!?!?!

I’ll take it!

Total weekly running mileage: 19.1. Not a ton, but totally cool with this since there was a half in there!

Total weekly (intentionally designed as cardio) speed walking: about 26. booyah.

How were your workouts this week?
Anyone run a race?