Well Mother Nature just dropped a whole lot of precipitation on us. You name it we got it…snow turned to freezing rain which eventually turned to plain rain. I opted to venture in to the office only after seeing that the ice layer on my car was quite thin. It ended up being a zippy ride with no issue. The office was super quiet. Most people opted to work from home. After lunch my boss slipped me some cash and asked if I would run an errand for him. It was critical we get donuts for the brave coworkers who trekked in. And so I was off to Dunkin Donuts. All prepared for the slush puddles of NYC with my waterproof boots.
My feet are totally submerged from the ankles down
I could just eat all dozen in the elevator but i won’t….self control Sally!
What’s better than a jelly donut? A heart shaped jelly donut!
Tomorrow I have a 6 miler to bang out. With the roads and sidewalks such a mess I might just opt for the treadmill at the gym (unless my local park is in good shape). I just don’t want to burn myself out dancing around puddles and ice patches. This particular run is just a straight one…no tempos, intervals, or hills….but that means nothing to break up 6 “dreadmill” miles. #runnerproblems
Well, last night’s Biggest Loser finale left me concerned….somehow seeing the winner drop down to “underweight” just seemed off-putting to me. Tonight it’s American Idol! I’ve already fallen for 2 contestants and Hollywood week just started. Majesty and Spencer.
OOOH, I’m hungry too…ok gotta split…time to make a snackie.
Question: Reality TV? What do you watch? Have you ever seen My Strange Addiction? Now that’s a wild one.
Well, I survived but it was no fun. Yep. 4 hours to go about 25 miles. The snow started about 8:00am. I kept trying to leave early but work kept pouring in. By the time I left the office it was 3:40pm.
Started out waiting for my usual bus right in front of the Macy’s in Herald Square…
I wish the snowflakes weren’t blurry.
Is this katie holmes? I think I need to buy some of that makeup =)
This was going nowhere. The woman at the front of the bus line had been waiting well over an hour. So I decided to hop down into the subway and take it downtown hoping i’d have a better chance at getting on a bus.
waiting for the bus, waiting for the subway and taking pictures of the snow and the traffic
Eventually I made it onto a bus. An hour had passed by this point but I was sitting and warm and hoping that was the worst of it. Well, 3 hours later I made it to my car (parked at the bus stop). I did the best I could to remove the snow from the windshield, warmed it up a few minutes and then slowly drove home.
Almost home. Just gotta dust off the jeep.
I came home and ripped into this:
Yes please!
Today I couldn’t bear the thought of commuting with my Gilligan’s Island trek still so fresh in my head so I finagled working from home. It worked out well as I started at 9am and finished at 4:56pm. Perfect!
Then I hit up the gym to log in the 4 mile tempo run I was supposed to do yesterday.
Real Feel: -2? I’ll take indoors for 200 Alec.
I am not a fan of the “dreadmill” but I have to say that for a tempo run it’s great. Set it and forget it! My tempo is supposed to be 9:57 pace but I usually find mills to be a little easier than running outside so I kept my pace at 9:33. It felt GREAT! The run itself plus just getting myself to drive there on such a cold (did i mention it was 15 degrees with a real feel temp of -2?) day.
So I took a lil’ video in the parking lot because I was just so proud of myself!
I came home pumped! Perfect because I needed to shovel the driveway (which i didn’t do last night…thank god for jeeps), then pack up and put out a lot of garbage. And if that wasn’t enough physical activity, one of the cabinets I ordered for my bathroom arrived from Target, so I started assembly—but 2 hours later I realized this is a 2-day job.
Gotta start somewhere.
Main frame done….tomorrow doors and drawer and the flimsy plywood back with 6,000,423 screws. #prayforme
Tomorrow I’m supposed to run 5. It’s probably going to be a treadmill run again and it might even get cut back to 3 miles. I am really sore and tired. Heck it might just get scrapped all together. Winter is tiring. I love the snow but just bundling up, warming the car, shoveling etc…it’s tiring. Sunday I’m running the Fred LeBow Manhattan Half Marathon. It’s supposed to be pretty frigid again.
Good thing they reminded us to dress warmly.
I am not racing it. It’s just going to be an easy training run that I paid a lot of money for =) I’ll take 2 apples AND a bottle of water at the finish for sure 😉
Question: Do you buy “assemble it yourself” furniture? Do you use the instruction book or wing it? What’s the worst commute you’ve ever had? I bet nothing as bad as mine.
It was a rough start. Duncan seemed to have a boo boo on his eyelid…I saw some dried blood on his fur and panicked. Luckily it looks like he’ll be just fine and we can avoid a vet visit. I’m NOT good with Duncan boo boos!
Next up was the rain. It was pouring so hard AND the wind was whipping. I stood at the bus stop and battled my umbrella best I could but by the time the bus came my jeans were sopping wet from the knee down as were my feet:( Traffic was bad and I was over a half hour late to work.
But my boss helped me find our little space heater in the office closet! I sat and dried out the sopping wet feet and jeans.
Dear space heater: I love you!
Within 30 minutes that debacle was a thing of the past. (Well my hair was tragic but when you have naturally curly hair you just learn to accept tragic hair on rainy days).
Then I found out my friend’s dog crossed the rainbow bridge:( She was 15 and I guess we knew her time was near, but it’s never easy to say goodbye to a furry best friend.
So my Monday was definitely starting off on the low end. A friend mentioned later in the day that today is actually called Blue Monday: the most depressing day of the year. I get it.
Thank god I had so much fun at my friend’s Little Christmas party last night. (It’s gotta be at least 10 years that I’ve been going. A few highlights:
The menu. Beer was kept cold in the snow on the back deck (genius!). There were also plenty of beverage options inside. Dinner was a petit filet steak for each person, broccoli, green beans, quinoa, sweet potatoes and jambalaya.
The “Wrapped Crap” exchange: I received a “ZePad”. It was a $20 fake iPad that was actually purchased as a decoy for my friend’s daughter by her boyfriend so that he could eventually surprise her with the real iPad later on. They both knew I would get a kick out of it so they re-wrapped it and ensured that I was given that package.
It’s actually like having a very old computer. It plugs in….even takes pictures.
archaic group shot
We tried to connect it to the internet but unsuccessful at the moment. I refuse to throw it out though. This is one wrapped crap gift I’ll be keeping even if it’s just to use the calculator function. LOL! There was also a bottle of French shower gel and in French it is Gel Douche. Yes we giggled like teenage boys. Other wrapped crap classics….a stinky candle, and some mismatched glass coasters and a gaudy holiday coffee mug.
The conversations: I don’t get to see these girls often so it’s nice to talk about some funny stories of our past. One big topic of discussion was about signs we get from people who have died. Ladybugs, butterflies, feathers, coins, numbers, scents, songs, electronics going haywire. I think we were all in agreement that our loved ones continue to let us know they’re with us once they’ve passed on.
The S’mores Dip: I did it again! I made a stellar dip. Actually I think my ratio of melted chocolate to toasted marshmallow was better this time around.
beautiful, perfectly browned toasted marshmallows combined with the right balance of melted chocolate. I approve!
I was so busy bitchin’ about my crappy monday that I forgot to mention I wore my pedometer today for the first time (you can read this post to see how I won it). While the rest of the blog world is testing out FitBits and Polar Loops, I’m going old school =)
I am actually impressed that I made it to almost 5,500 steps. Duncan and I didn’t do our normal morning walk of 20-30 minutes and I didn’t go far at lunch because of the rain, so I’m guessing most days I probably make it to 7,500. I think they recommend 10,000 steps a day so I’m not far off. Tonight is cross training night so I’ll be bouncing on the trampoline for a bit. Tomorrow i’ve got a plain ole 3 mile run to do. I love week 1 of marathon training =)
I mentioned in this post that I’m getting ready to repaint all the rooms in my house. Well, I have been looking for new bedding for my bedroom. Today, I felt the need to cheer myself up so I finally pulled the trigger and ordered 2 different duvets and a decorative pillow. Here’s a little picture showing the purchases and also I tried to make a little representation of what the final product will look like. I’m painting my bedroom walls gray. My headboard is white and i’m planning on mixing the black and white toile duvet with the teal colored one…shams too. And then I got this cool petal covered pillow too.
So that’s that. I’m off to bounce now. Have a great night.
Question: Do you like your current bedroom bedding or do you feel the need for a change? What are your colors?
I woke up on New Year’s Day and decided I’d have Harry & David’s Moose Munch for breakfast. It just somehow felt like the right choice. I’ve got 364 more days to choose something healthier right?!
breakfast of champions…starting the year off right on my own terms.
After breakfast I waited for this guy to get up…
We stayed out late on New Year’s Eve. He and his two pals Angus and Lu went a little overboard with the champagne treats.
please give us more!
hey! it’s midnight…give us those treats!
This New Years Eve celebration is for the dogs
It was a fun night. Humans had a good time too! We put champagne in shot glasses for some reason. #champagneflutesareoverrated
So finally when the dog woke up, we went for a walk. We saw Bambi!
Then I left Duncan at home and headed to my aunt’s house for her annual New Year’s Day party. She’s 86 years old now and I didn’t want to skip out on this as I’ve done in the past (it’s mainly her friends). I got to drive a different way than usual so I took a pic of the Verrazano Bridge from a different angle than I usually do. (I have a weird affinity for the Verrazano Bridge if you didn’t know).
My aunt had lots of fresh daisies in vases on the table.
Her mom, my grandmother, Dorothy had been given the nickname “Dashing Daisy” from my grandpa. She always had a ton of energy and zipped around. I love the nickname and since I always felt closest to her as far as grandparents went I like to think I carry on her legacy….”Dashing” is nicely covered by my running, and “Daisy”….well, this is my Jeep spare tire cover…
The sweetest things that my aunt had at the party were the dessert table…
homemade italian cheesecake, homemade rum cake and a few other pastries that were delish
And this cardboard “resolutions” sign-in board…
As I said, my aunt is 86 and many of the guests were seniors. Really? One man wrote that he wanted his wife to regain her sight! I hope everyone’s wishes and dreams do come true.
This morning as I was getting ready to go for a run I realized that I couldn’t find my favorite black running hat that I wore just a few days ago…
favorite black hat
So I grabbed a substitute that I didn’t love but figured I needed to get out the door and didn’t have all day to continue the search.
black hat substitute but the same vest lol!
There’s just something about favorites—hats, capris, socks, scarves, jeans….Next time I’ll just buy 7 of each of my favorites! (PS: I found my hat….it was in the dog’s toybox and it wasn’t his fault. I was straightening up before my friend was coming over and scooped up all his toys scattered on the floor and the hat must have been on the floor too and they all ended up getting dumped in the toybox. It was funny because initially I blamed the poor dog. Then I remembered.)
I covered 4.35 miles according to my Garmin….but lately mr. watch has been locking its satellite in the wrong spot. I start at my house and finish at my house yet at looking at the maps of my last few runs, clearly it thinks i’m starting a few blocks from my house.
I have lots of benchmarks along the route. I know it’s .3 miles to get to the main road and it’s exactly 1 mile when I get to the overpass that crosses the highway. Everytime I looked at my watch at these spots they were .06 off. It’s not the end of the world. I mean what’s the difference between 4.35 or 4.41? But I do wish I can fix it. #OCDwithnumbersrunner.
As for my new Brooks Ghost sneakers…..I still am unsure how I feel. It’s only the 2nd time wearing them. They definitely don’t suck, I just was hoping to feel like I had more spring in my step. I kept a 10 min mile pace which after using this training pace calculator, seems to be what my tempo pace should be as I begin marathon training…
Speaking of marathon training, mine begins next week!!! AHHHH!! I’m so excited and nervous. I hope my goals aren’t to out there. Meanwhile I found out that I won a special VIP package so I’ll get reserved parking and “upscale fare” in the VIP tent before and after the race. Hey, that’ll be my consolation if I don’t reach my PR goal of 4:40.
OK, off to batten down the hatches….we’re expecting a blizzard here in NYC. Hope your year is off to a great start.
Question: How was your New Year’s Eve? What did you do? Anyone eat something crazier than Moose Munch for their first breakfast of 2014?
Tomorrow I have a 6 miler to bang out. With the roads and sidewalks such a mess I might just opt for the treadmill at the gym (unless my local park is in good shape). I just don’t want to burn myself out dancing around puddles and ice patches. This particular run is just a straight one…no tempos, intervals, or hills….but that means nothing to break up 6 “dreadmill” miles. #runnerproblems
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