run, run, runaway and other parts of my day

30. January 2014 · 1 comment · Categories: labradoodle, running · Tags: , , , , ,

Hi!

Happy penultimate day of January! Yep, that was one of my favorite S.A.T. words from back in the day. It means second to last.

This morning a package arrived. I had ordered some 4×6 and 5×7 prints of a bunch of pictures of friends and family to hang in some new frames I bought. It’s weird. I’m so used to just viewing pics digitally it felt really nice to hold them in my hand.

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I’m blessed to have such a photogenic dog, friends and family too!

These are the 2 frames I got:

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I actually got a variation of this that doesn’t have the white matting. It’s just clear glass so the photos “float” in each pane.

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this one’s going in my bedroom. It’s all one piece so I don’t have to worry about making a million holes in the wall

Then I took Duncan to the groomer so he could get this out of control shag tamed.
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And the result, as always, perfection:

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Scratch n Sniff….I smell so good.

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flaunting his fur at the park

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batwing ears and paws of perfection!

While the doodle was at the groomer though I was able to squeeze in a quick run which I desperately needed. It was what I call a “runaway” run. I had something personal that I had to take care of today that made me sad. Sometimes when that happens I just want to literally run away with my run. I didn’t take music. Just replayed some stuff over and over in my head.

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indoor selfie since the phone battery dies outside from the cold

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schedule called for 6 but I needed to be home in an hour so 5.3 was where I netted out. I ended up walking at least a mile with the dog afterward anyway so I’m good.

I felt so much better. And then my friend and I went to IHOP for lunch. I pretended it was still breakfast time and had a stack of 5 pancakes. Nothing healthy about this….

IMG_2568And now I’m going to get some work done before I get too comfy on the couch. Have a great day!

Question: Anyone still have real photo albums filled with pictures on their coffee table? Anyone have a digital photo frame that does a slideshow of lots of pics? Anyone love pancakes more than I do? I doubt it.

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  2. 60 degrees in December
  3. testing out new shoes and a twisted knee in my sleep

Fred Lebow Manhattan Half and the perfect pillow combination

27. January 2014 · 4 comments · Categories: labradoodle, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,

Hi all! Happy Sunday!

This morning I got up at 5am and braved the cold temps (we’re talking 17 degrees and that’s not including the wind chill factor) to run the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half Marathon. I was driving not 5 minutes when I realized I left my travel mug filled with hot coffee at the house. I was so sad! But somehow I survived and ran caffeine-free. #miracle.

outfit

Duncan was telling me I’m crazy and that we should go back to bed

I picked up my race number, walked through Strawberry Fields for a quick photo and then sat in my car for a half hour staying warm until it was time to line up in the corals.

birds

I thought it was cool that i saw a cardinal and then 2 blue jays within seconds of each other!

I met up with my friend Carey and we ran the entire 13.1 together! It was so great to have someone there to help me stay in the game. She is the most consistently paced person ever! We did run/walk intervals which I don’t do much but it really helped us recover and prepare for all the rolling hills in Central Park. A few pics from the morning…

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Another long training run is in the books and from here until April 27th all my long runs are double digits. I love knowing I’ve got plenty of miles to clear my head over the next few months. The only thing I don’t love is having less time on weekends for other stuff. You know, even if you get up early to run, you come home, shower, eat, stretch, walk the dog, post a million photos to Instagram, write a blog, update you Facebook status and share your Runkeeper activity…..oh wait, that’s just me! =)

After the race, I came home and defrosted while cuddling up to my Duncan and my Dunkin…

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Moving on… my bedroom and my bathrooms are finally done—a few pics…

bedroom-vignettes

throw pillow “pollooza” • vases • DIY photo matte framing my favorite little furrkid

final bedroom

the complete look….including the best accessory ever napping on the blue throw

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guest bathroom. i went with a dramatic deep purple.

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master bath…gray and yellow. shower curtain and bath mat are from Target

Eventually I’ll show you how the rest of the house turned out. I’m having a hard time putting holes back into the freshly patched and painted walls but I will have to surrender and hang some pictures and my medal holders soon.

I’m watching the Grammy’s now (Pink is just amazing!). Why do weekends fly by?

Question: How are you all spending the last week of January? Any exciting weeknight plans? Anyone else run outside in extreme weather?

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how to survive a 4 hour commute during a blizzard

23. January 2014 · Write a comment · Categories: running, sweet treats · Tags: , , , , ,

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…

Macys

I wish the snowflakes weren’t blurry.

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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, taking pictures of the snow and the traffic

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.

Almost home. Just gotta dust off the jeep.

I came home and ripped into this:

Edy's Chocolate Chip

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.

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.

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Gotta start somewhere.

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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.

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.

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  2. 60 degrees in December
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I need a month not a weekend!

20. January 2014 · Write a comment · Categories: labradoodle, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Seriously, I need a month to get my house back. (Sorry! I must sound like a broken record!) Last night my power went out for a few hours so I couldn’t do much. Then I had to get ready because I was heading out to dinner with friends so I used my handy dandy LED lantern so I could at least put some make up on.

LED Lantern

The Glow Worm look!

Today I went back to Operation PURGE….I tackled the cleaning products under the sink and the toiletries and medicines in the bathroom. I’m starting to think that my mousse and my hair spray multiply in there. Oh, and I threw out someTylenol that expired in 2008.

I’m sad to report that my original bedding purchases arrived and I didn’t like them. I returned both….But I did keep the cute pillow from Pier 1.

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The black and white bedding was a scratchy fabric and the teal bedding was really washed out looking. But the pillow was PERFECT!

Today started with a morning walk in the woods with this guy:

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Good morning!

And then I tackled the sink and bathroom clean out.

Then came the fun stuff! A trip to Home Goods where I got a few cute things.

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Yes! Cookies make me SOOO happy!

And then I stopped at the beach to get in my long run. 8.35 miles.

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Finished just before sunset. My fingers were frozen.

Holy F it was windy. Watch this:

Now I’m back at Operation Cleanup and in a little bit I’m going to head to Target. Thank god I’ve got one more day off. Rest in peace Martin Luther King. Thanks for being worthy of a national holiday.

Hope you’re enjoying your long weekend.

Question: Anyone go skiing this weekend? Run a race? Toss some expired meds? Shop at Target?

 

 

 

 

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