September 29, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1. Training Update - I skipped out on a Training Tuesday post this week because I didn't want to plan a week of training without knowing how my foot was feeling. After giving myself a full week of rest, I headed out Tuesday for an easy 7 mile run and felt great! It doesn't hurt to walk anymore or to run. There's a dull pain around a bruise that creeped up over the weekend so I've been icing it and I bought a brace that I've been wearing when I'm not running and so far so good. I ran 6 easy miles yesterday and am hoping to pick up the pace a little bit tonight in order to get my legs up to speed for Saturday's Half.

2. Grete's Great Gallop - Speaking of Saturday's Half, I'm running the NYRR Norwegian Festival which I'm actually pretty excited about. The course is two loops of Central Park and it isn't sold out which I'm hoping means it won't be too crowded because the last half I did in Central Park was so crowded, I was walking up the Harlem Hills because I couldn't move any faster. Not cool kids. I still managed to run a sub-2 half and am aiming for a big PR this time around. I'm contemplating adding on some miles before to make for 20 since I missed last week's 20 but we'll see. My race plan is to start out steady, around a 9 minute mile for the first 3 miles or so, run the next 7 at marathon goal pace and spring my heart out for the last 5k. Wish me luck!

Thankfully I won't be dressed like this on Saturday. 
3. September-October - The month of September has been such a blur for me. I was crazy busy every weekend and I had no idea that I would be as busy during the week as I was on the weekends. I've got a lot of school work to catch up on and now is when things are starting to kick in. I have a friend coming to town this weekend to cheer me on at the race and after she leaves, I'm planning to kick October into lazy gear...finish my last week of training before taper strong and then just rest, recover and get ready for MCM because I'm getting pumped to toe that line!

What are you looking forward to this October? (Besides pumpkin everything) Any big races or events?

September 26, 2011

Oops I went to Texas...again

Dating a pilot really has its benefits. A hassle free weekend getaway? Yes please!

This weekend, The Pilot and I jetted off to Texas to see one of my oldest and closest friends get married. 

We. Had. A. Blast!

After an insanely easy flight, we got in on Friday afternoon, grabbed lunch and tossed around a few ideas of what to do for the night before deciding to go to the local high school football game. The Pilot was the captain of our high school football team and well, when I transferred to that school from Texas I was hugely disappointed in what football in New Jersey was...or, rather, wasn't. No Homecoming? No sold out Friday night games? No tailgating? WHAT?! So it was only fitting that I brought him to see what a taste of real Texas high school football looked like. 

Unfortunately, they recently built a new high school in town and this was the first year this particular school had a Varsity football program, so it wasn't exactly the Texas high school football experience I know and love but we still had a great time and that's what's important. 

The Half-Time show
Saturday was a low key day spend sleeping in, shopping and cooking dinner with my sisters. That night, my brother and sisters and I decided to head to the Stockyards since we had never really taken my boyfriend there to walk around. We donned our best cowboy and cowgirl attire and headed downtown. 


First up: The Rodeo!


The Pilot heavily resisted going to a rodeo the first few times I've brought him back to Texas but come on now, you can't say you've really been to Texas unless you've been to the rodeo and seen some good ol' fashion bull ridin'!

Sunday morning it was time to don our Sunday best and get ready for the wedding! My family was going to a fancy party too, so we all got dressed up, took lots of pictures and then they headed off to their party and The Pilot and I headed off to ours.

Me with my beautiful sisters!
And my handsome brother!
The wedding was between my friend Devon and his now wife, Whitney. I met Devon at the Homecoming dance our Sophomore year of high school when I went with his best friend (and Best Man), Garrett. We've known each other forever and Devon has been there for me in ways that no one ever has before and I love him to pieces. Whitney, is absolutely wonderful and was hands down, the most beautiful bride I have ever seen and I was so unbelievably happy to be there for their special day. 

The bride and groom entering the reception
Me with the new Mr. and Mrs!
The ceremony was a short, sweet ceremony at a chapel in Fort Worth and the reception was in the garden of a quaint bed and breakfast nearby. It was a beautiful day and The Pilot and I had an amazing time.

I'm kind of in love with this guy
The ceremony ended early and being all dressed up and not wanting the night to end, we headed downtown to continue the festivities and had a few drinks before calling it a night. 

In front of the Bass Hall

The weekend was the perfect mix of having fun, relaxing and spending time with family. Texas football, the rodeo, a wedding with one of my oldest and dearest friends, a handsome pilot for a date and a perfect weekend with my family? What more could a girl ask for? If I learned one thing this weekend, it's that no matter what kind of big city life I'm living now, at the end of the day, you can take the girl out of the honky tonk, but you can't take the honky tonk out of the girl. 
Yeehaw!



September 22, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1. Mysterious Foot Pain - On Monday, I posted a mysterious pain in my foot that developed over the weekend. It was only bothering me to walk but not to run so I didn't think too much of it but yesterday when I headed out for my 10 mile goal pace run, I made it all of 0.65 miles before I had to stop because I was in so much pain. Needless to say, I was freaking out. I took myself to a doctor who looked at me for all of 0.453 seconds and said, "Well it's not plantar fascitis because that would be in a different part of your foot and it's not on a bone so it's not any kind of break or fraction so it's probably just a strain. You'll be fine in 2 days, just take some Motrin. Oh and good luck with the marathon." Hmmm. While this sounds like a great diagnosis, I'm slightly skeptical. I've been RICE-ing but not really taking it easy because umm we walk a lot in New York, so I'm taking another Rest Day today and hoping I can get in some mileage tomorrow. Cross your fingers for me!

2. Fall TV - I'm not much of a TV person. My week usually consists of about 2 shows, College Game Day and  Sunday football. Sure, I turn the TV on as background noise but I've never been one to get hooked on TV shows but this season, there is so much good TV out there! My fall lineup: Parenthood, New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, The Office, The League, Once Upon a TIme, Whitney and Pan AM...and we'll see if anything else sparks my interest! Check out this Fall TV Guide


3. Blog Party - I'm starting to fall in love with the NYC Blogger Community. This weekend, I met the fabulous Gia in the corral of the Fitness Mind, Body and Spirit Games. She over heard me say I have a blog and jumped in to say, "Me too!" Two nights later, we were eating 16 Handles by the umm handle to mourn  celebrate our good friend Christine who taking big steps and moving to Boston. I saw friends, I made friends, I ate frozen yogurt, all in all, it was a great night. I love the community that is NYC Running. We keep 16 Handles in business, we love to sweat and yea, sometimes we run...a lot.

Frozen yogurt + multiple toppings = successful night!

NYC Bloggers


So here's what I want to know: When it comes to running injuries, what's your MO? What's on your Fall TV Lineup? Any shows that I'm missing? Do you meet up with other bloggers? Why doesn't 16 Handles ever have Pumpkin or Irish Mint?



September 21, 2011

Sometimes I Like to Cook


Actually I love to cook and I do it a lot. I cook at least 2 meals a day for myself, I just don't really blog about it. But one of the things on my 25 Before 25 list is to cook all of the recipes in one of my cook book...something I've kept up with but haven't actually posted about since March...so let's see what I've been up to in the kitchen!

Back in April, I went and visited my family in Texas and decided to treat them to a nice, cooked dinner of roasted lamb with vegetables. Now, being a vegetarian, I skipped out on the meat but my family was tres impressed and my dad said it was the best damn lamb he had ever had! The vegetables, I did have, and they were impeccable! And since it's the Fall and you all love Fall so much, I'll share the recipe for these delicious Autumn veggies!

Roast Leg O'Lamb on a Bed of Onions
Autumn Roasted Vegetables
Recipe: Autumn Roasted Vegetables
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Clean, scrub and peel vegetables 1 cup each parsnips (or carrots), pumpkin (or butternut squash), red onions, sweet potatoes and 1/2 cup each chopped green onion bulbs (stalk and bulb), baby squash, bell peppers, eggplants.
-Toss veggies in a mixing bowl with 1/4 cup olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper, half a bunch of fresh thyme and 2 tablespoons parsley. 
-Place the parsnips, pumpkin, red onions, sweet potatoes and green onions in a roasting dish and bake for 25 minutes. 
-Add in the rest of the vegetables and cook for another 25 minutes. 

Next up: Avocado Bruschetta. I made this one warm summer evening after I'd gotten back from India when my aunt and cousin were coming over for dinner. Avocados, cherry tomatoes and cilantro marinated in a chili paste and lime juice mix? Fantastic!


Recipe #4 was a big fat failure. When it comes to food, The Pilot loves two things: coconut and pancakes, so I decided to take another recipe out of my the book Real Girls Eat and make him breakfast. Definitely not the best recipe in the book.

Coconut pancakes look delicious, but they weren't. 
There's a section on Japanese recipes in the cook book and while I've followed a seafood free diet for the last year, I decided to go big and have some sushi the other day. So I brought it home and made homemade Miso soup. Super easy, super fast and super delicious!

I added lots of mushrooms!
So there you have it, I do cook and I haven't been neglecting my recipes...just blogging about them! I have 11 more recipes to go so if you want to come over for dinner, let me know!

Have you cooked anything good lately? What's your favorite cookbook?





September 20, 2011

Training Tuesday: Week 9

Last week was a week full of lessons to be learned. The most important one? Listen to my body and be ok with having to ease up a bit.

I cut 10 miles off of my training last week. Whether it was because I got kicked off the treadmill at the gym, my knee was hurting or I felt like I just pushed too hard, it happened and surprisingly, I'm ok with it. I know that cutting those 10 miles off my training is only going to make this week better for me and minimize my risk of injury before Race Day.

Speaking of Race Day, my race docket has somehow loaded up this Fall. Between now and December, I'm running 3 half-marathons, 1 full marathon, a 5k and a 15k (which I'm just waiting for Pay Day so I can sign up for).

This means, I really need to make sure I get all of my strength and cross training workouts in so that I build muscle without avoiding injury. I've been great about going to yoga once a week. I don't think I have time for much more than that but strength training? I really need to get into the gym at least twice a week for it to be effective, so that's a goal for the rest of my training cycle.

So here's where I'm at:

MCM Training: Week 9
Total Mileage Last Week: 32
Missed Workouts: 0
Trouble Spots: Some knee pain that seems to have dissipated since cutting back
Planned Mileage This Week: 45

Monday: 4 miles easy (9:52/mile) with 4 strides
Tuesday: 7 miles easy (9:52/mile)
Wednesday: 10 miles with 8 miles at Marathon Goal Pace
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 20 miles (9:52 pace), fast finish
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: 4 miles easy (9:52/mile)

Goals for this Week: Strength train on my Rest Days
Current Annoyances this Week: A weird foot pain that doesn't bother me while I'm running but is extremely painful
Things to Keep in Mind: Keep doing what I'm doing, everything is going great!

That's that! I've had to move things around again this week (story of my life) but it'll all work out! With just under 6 weeks left, I'm feeling really good about MCM! I've got this week, a step back week next week and then one more strong week until Taper, so I've just gotta keep at it!

How's your training going?

September 17, 2011

Lessons Learned from the Long Run

My plan for today was 20 miles. I ran 18 but I'm ok with that. I wasn't at first because I ended up cutting all of my runs short this week for a number of reasons: getting kicked off the treadmill at the crowded gym, knee pain after Tuesday's Yasso 800s and a decision to take Friday's run easy to avoid further exacerbating anything that might be going on with my knee.

If my training plan shifts from 1 18-miler, 2 20s and a 22 to 2 18s, 1 20 and a 22, I'm have to be ok with it because I listened to my body.

My alarm went off at 6 and after a quick breakfast, I took a cab to Central Park (realize along the way that I forgot my headphones at home) and met up with Celia bright and early this morning for her Team for Kids training run and did 14 miles with them. The first few went by really fast although my knee was nagging me a bit which started to worry me. I took a Gu at Mile 5 and around Mile 6, my hamstring started hurting so I stopped to stretch it but by Mile 7, I felt like I was putting a lot more weight on my right side than my left so I stopped to stretch again and then I felt ok. The lemon lime Gu at 8:00 in the morning did not sit right with me and by Mile 10, I found myself running for the nearest bathroom. You don't need the details but I spent a lot of time there. When I got out, I stopped to stretch some more and then continued my run.

By this point, I knew that running 16 miles before the Fitness Mind, Body & Spirit 4-mile race, which was scheduled to start at 10, wasn't going to be possible but I was determined to get in at least 14.

Celia and I lost each other early on and I find myself running alone for most of the run. Surprisingly, my lack of headphones wasn't an issue at all. I always run with headphones. Lately, I've been trying to run my shorter 3 and 4 mile runs without them but I do that very rarely. It helped that I had Chris Brown's "Forever" stuck in my head the whole time, but I definitely realized that hey, I can run without music!

When I hit Mile 12, I grabbed my stuff from where I had left it with TFK and made my way to the starting line. I ran the first mile of the race and back to make an even 14 and then lined up in my corral where I met Gia (hi Gia!) and another super sweet girl wearing an I <3 Sweat shirt! (Seriously, sweaty girls are taking NYC by storm!)

As soon as I took off, I knew that the race was going to be tough. Even though I had only ended my 14 miler 10 minutes before, my legs were starting to cramp up fast and I knew that the first mile ahead of me was full of rolling hills. I was hurting pretty badly and was starting to question my ability to finish the race when Christine jumped out and joined me! I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it was to see her. She definitely put the pep back in my step and gave me the boost I needed to cruise through a strong finish...as you can see from the NYRR Event Gallery:

Yup...I <3 Sweat...and that's what I look like after running 18 miles. 
My stats from today:

Mile 1 - 9:32
Mile 2 - 9:14
Mile 3 - 9:06
Mile 4 - 8:50
Mile 5 - 9:05
Mile 6 - 8:57
Mile 7 - 9:34
Mile 8 - 9:13
Mile 9 - 8:49
Mile 10 - 8:57
Mile 11 - 9:17
Mile 12 - 9:17 (woo consistency!)
Mile 13 - 8:59
Mile 14 - 9:47
Mile 15 - 7:26
Mile 16 - 8:56
Mile 17 - 8:31
Mile 18 - 8:56
Total - 2:43:32

Lessons Learned

  • I can run without music!
  • I do not like the Central Park Bridle Path
  • Sometimes you just really need to listen to your body
  • It's ok to alter your training plan to make sure that you have the best run possible on race day
  • I am definitely capable of achieving my goal time at Marine Corps and possible even faster.
  • I need to learn how to run more consistently
  • I look lovely after running 18 miles
  • Running friends make everything better. 
Thanks Celia and Christine for an awesome run, Gia for being super friendly at the start, and Ali for telling me where the Starting Line was and then checking up on me while I was stretching. I <3 Sweat...and Runner Friends. 

Have a great weekend everybody!

September 15, 2011

Three Things Thursday

1. Yasso 800s from Hell - Yesterday, I had my first experiment with Yasso 800s. Holy goodness, I don't know how people do them. My plan called for a 2 mile warm-up, 6 800s at 3:50 and a 2 mile cool down. After 4 800s with a 400 meter jog in between, I slogged home averaging an 11 minute mile. Today, my knee is screaming at me. I'm hoping it's just because of the rain and that I didn't do something yesterday but I haven't had knee pain this bad in a really long time. So, while today was supposed to be a Rest Day, I was going to try and get in my tempo run but I'm skipping that in favor of ice and possibly light yoga.

The East River track
2. New York City Marathon - Today, I signed up for my 9th qualifying race for the New York City Marathon. A $50 5k that starts at the United Nations and ends at the Marathon Finish Line. $50. For a 5k. I thought the BAA was steep but this is just ridiculous. Why did I sign up? Because it's the only race left this year that I'm able to run and because I've already invested a sh*t ton of money to run this race already. Angry much? Slightly. If I had known just how expensive it was going to be to run NYC through the 9+1 program, I would have run it for charity. Don't worry. I'll get over it.

via
3. School - This week was officially my first week of classes. We started last week but I only had one class to go to because of the holiday so now, we're in full swing. I mentioned Monday that I was on the Wait List for a class because I hated one of mine and I'm so happy to say I got in. This semester, I'm taking Global Civil Society, Issues in Humanitarian Assistance, and a regional course studying Africa which I am stoked about. I love the professor and after only one class, he's totally rekindled the flame and has me itching to to go back to Africa. In more exciting news, I got an email this week about applying for graduation! This is my last semester of classes and next semester, I write my thesis and then I'm done in May! I've just got to get there...
Hopefully without looking like this!
Happy Thursday all! 
Any big plans for the weekend?
I'm going to a country music festival on Sunday! And running 20 miles!
Yay!!!

September 13, 2011

Training Tuesday: Week 8

Last week I said that starting then, things weren't going to be easy.

I'm happy to say I was wrong.

While last week wasn't exactly an easy week of training, it wasn't terribly difficult. My body is definitely feeling the effects of my first over 40 mile week and 2 speed work sessions, but for the most part, I'm feeling good.

This week might be a little bit more difficult. Life happens sometimes and I've got an absurdly busy week meaning I need to push my 20 mile long run (which I usually do on Sundays) to Saturday which also means back to back speed work sessions. We'll see how "easy" I'm feeling next week, right?

So here's what I'm looking at in Week 7 of marathon training.

MCM Training: Week 8
Total Mileage Last Week: 41
Missed Workouts: 0
Trouble Spots: Being way more sore than usual after my long run
Planned Mileage This Week: 43

Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 4 miles easy with 4 strides (only did 3 today and skipped the striders...still a bit sore)
Wednesday: Yasso 800s (9 miles with 6x800) - first time tackling these babies!
Thursday: 10 miles with 8 miles @ Marathon Pace
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: 20 miles (16 with a 4 mile race at the Fitness, Mind, Body and Spirit Games)
Sunday: Rest Day



Goals for this Week: Go grocery shopping and start meal planning again!
Current Annoyances this Week: None =)
Things to Keep in Mind: Start incorporating other forms of cross-training besides yoga and strength training, like swimming!

So that's that. I'm excited to race this weekend...I think a 4 mile race is the perfect way to end a 20-mile run and get myself into the mindset of picking up the pace, holding steady and staying strong through the tail end of a long run.

What's your plan for the week? Are you racing? Have you ever added miles to a race to get into a long run?

Love/Don't Love

1. This weekend was amazing. I love having The Pilot around! He came to see me Friday night and we had a great night out on the town together. Love.
2. I only blogged once last week. I didn't realize how busy I was until the weekend hit. Don't Love. 
3. Classes started last week and as of this week they're in full swing. Love.
4. I absolutely hated one of my classes and am currently on the wait list for that I went to today that I loved so I'm really hoping I get in. Don't Love.
5. I had a fantastic 18 mile run yesterday. I maintained a strong, steady pace close to my marathon goal pace and I had a negative split. Love.
6. I'm unbelievable sore today. Despite icing, foam rolling, stretching, etc. I'm almost (but not quite) as sore as I was the day after my marathon last year. Don't Love.
7. I'm racing this weekend! I haven't raced since the Mini 10k in June and I'm super excited to get out there and run the Fitness Mind, Body and Spirit Games! I'm hoping to turn the 4-miler into my 20-miler but we'll see. Love.
8. Baseball season is slowly coming to a close which, I'm sad to say, I could care less about. The Mets were a joke this year and I'm ready for them to be put out of their misery. Don't Love.
8. It's officially football season and the Jets won last night! The Jets, thank goodness, are going to have a much better season this year than the Mets did. Love.
9. I didn't really have any pictures to go with this post so it's kind of lame looking. Don't Love.
10. But since everyone loves puppies, and I don't like picture-less posts, here's one of The Pilot's puppy!

Her name is Peyton and she is adorable.
We get along...sometimes...except when she tries to give me kisses. 
Happy Monday y'all! 
Have a great week!

September 11, 2011

Not just any Sunday...

10 years ago today, I was a freshman in high school. I was in 2nd period World Geography when a student from the class across the hall ran in and yelled, "A plane just crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, come watch!" We all ran across the hall to the other classroom to watch the events unfold on television.

I had moved to Texas less than 2 months before from New Jersey because I wanted to go to high school in Texas. As I stared at the TV, watching, I couldn't stop thinking about my sister, who lived in New York, my friends that I had just finished 8th grade with, who had parents that worked at the World Trade Center, my cousin, who worked downtown, or my mom, my friends, my family, everyone in New Jersey and New York.

Fast forward, 10 years and I'm one semester away from finishing my Master's degree in International Affairs.We talk about September 11 on a daily basis...about what international relations means in the post-9/11 era. Just like the Cold War impacted global affairs, 9/11 had the same effect on forever changing the way that the world works.

Today isn't a day to remember September 11, it's a day to ensure that we never forget. Every day when I go to class, I take the E train to World Trade Center. I step off the subway and walk two blocks to class never hesitating to think about that fateful day, 10 years ago, and stop to say a little prayer.


I woke up this morning like I do every Sunday and went for my long run. And I thought about the significance of today during every single one of those miles. When I got home, I watched the Memorial on TV and couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened that day.

The Pilot is flying today. He finished his commercial airline training 3 weeks ago and had his first trip last week. Today, he's flying in and out of New York for most of the day. Thinking about him in the air today has led me to really think, for the first time, about the passengers and flight crew of United Airlines Flights 93 and 175 and American Airlines Flights 11 and 73.

May they, and all of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 rest in peace. May the first responders, fire fighters and police officers who passed away from injuries and illnesses that were sustained or developed as a result of their service on that day, rest in peace. And may the women and men who have entered into service to protect the United States after the September 11 attacks remain safe and may those who have lost their lives, rest in peace.



God Bless America. 






September 6, 2011

Training Tuesday: Week 7

You know what is amazing? Getting wine drunk on a Monday. You know what else is amazing? Step back weeks. Last year, when I was training for Philadelphia, I made the grave mistake of using my step back weeks to make up for mileage. This time around, with only 1 missed workout under my belt, I used the week to step back which was exactly what I needed coming off of a rough 2 weeks of training. So, after a great week last week, I'm ready to get back into things!

MCM Training: Week 7
Total Mileage Last Week: 32
Missed Workouts: 0
Trouble Spots: None =)
Planned Mileage This Week: 41

Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 3 miles easy (9:52/mile with 3 strides)
Wednesday: Tempo Run - 8 miles with 3 miles @ 8:30/mile
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: 9 miles with 7 miles @ Marathon Pace
Saturday: 3 miles easy
Sunday: 18 miles (9:52 pace), fast finish

So that's the plan. It's not going to be easy. An 8 mile run, a 9 mile run and an 18 mile run in one week? I definitely need to pay attention to my body to make sure I'm eating, hydrating, stretching and fueling properly. This week marks the end of hill workouts (which, I didn't actually do a whole lot of) and the start of speed workouts. I'm not tremendously disappointed at my lack of hill workouts since Central Park is definitely full of rolling hills and I do my long runs on them. The plan though, is to really clock into the sub-9 minute miles  and try to hold them so that I can get my marathon pace to be what I want it to be. I know I'm capable of a sub-4 marathon and I know I'm capable of a lot faster than 3:59:59 but that's what the next 8 weeks of training are all about.

Goals for this week: Eating, fueling and stretching properly.
Current annoyances: Rain...and the fact that I can't calculate how long it will take me to run when you have traffic to figure in leaving me with a plan to knock out 8 miles on the treadmill tomorrow before my morning class.
Things to keep in mind: Strength training needs to include core strengthening as well!

It's not going to be easy but it's definitely going to be fun because you know what? It takes a lot more than 26.2 miles to run a marathon.

So here's my question for all of you out there:

In reading training plans/recaps of everyone, I've noticed a huge split between people who do their long runs at or near their marathon goal pace versus people who do them slower. My marathon goal pace is well in the sub-9 region, but I'm running them closer to 10. What do you do?


By the way, classes start tomorrow, wish me luck!

September 4, 2011

This Weekend was Amazing


Happy Labor Day Weekend!

I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend and will all be enjoying the holiday tomorrow while I am at work. Don't worry, I'm not complaining though, I had the whole summer off and got to see the world, so I'm ok if I have to work a holiday every now and again. I also had a fantastic weekend so I'm definitely not complaining.

Friday, The Pilot came to town! He's finally here and only living an hour away and I love that. When I said goodbye to him yesterday afternoon, I was able to say, "Bye! See ya next week!" instead of sobbing my eyes out in an airport not knowing when I would see him again.

So, we met up in Union Square after work and I needed food stat so I hit up the Dining Hall in my building which seriously has the most amazing food. Roasted portobello sandwich with a caprese side salad with the most juicy tomatoes ever? I'll take it! And for free? YES! Then, we went to 16 Handles because all of you bloggers got me hooked and I, in turn, got him hooked.

Whatever that melted chocolate crunch thing is, is amazing.

We did the "What do you want to do tonight?" "I don't know, what do you want to do tonight?" thing for about half an hour before I said, "Let's go to Coney Island!"

And off we went.

The Brooklyn Cyclones were playing their 2nd to last game of the season, so obviously, us 2 baseball lovers went to the game. The Pilot has always wanted to go see the Cyclones because he has a thing for Brooklyn baseball (RIP Dodgers) so we had a great time...even though it took us 12 years to get to Coney Island. The ballpark is right by the water so it was pretty chilly but we had a great time and the Cyclones beat the Staten Island Yankees (gross) making it that much better.

Yay! Baseball!
Unfortunately, MCU Park is not on my list of ballparks and it's almost the end of baseball season which means, I probably won't make it to all 30 before my 25th, but hey, I've made it half way and am still planning to sneak a few more in so we'll see!


After the game ended, we headed over to Coney Island to check it out. Neither of us had ever been before. They shoot fireworks every Friday night during the summer from the water and we got to see the fireworks from the theme park which was fun! Then, we decided to ride the Ferris wheel! Unfortunately, the fireworks ended before we got on the Ferris wheel so we didn't get to seem them from up top, but it was still super fun!

On the Ferris wheel!
Coney Island from the top!
Hello Verrazano Bridge. I will be running across you next November. 
We left Coney Island and made the 12 year journey back to Manhattan.

?
The Coney Island Ferris Wheel!
We were both starving, so we decided that Artichoke was in order.

Spinach and artichoke dip on a pizza? Of course. 
Artichoke is kind of a staple if you live anywhere near the East Village so that's what we did. Saturday morning, we woke up, I tried to make a pancake recipe out of my cookbook...key word tried. I'm not very good at making pancakes apparently. I blame the recipe. Then, we took a stroll through Central Park, hit up Spice for lunch and I saw The Pilot off so that he could go study and be well rested for his first official flight today! (I'm ridiculously excited for him.)

Today, I ran 13 miles. I felt good and strong, although, it was really hot. Then, I rewarded myself with a nutella ice cream sandwich courtesy of my favorite food truck, Coolhaus. Sustainable, philanthropic and delicious? That makes the recipe for my new favorite place to get a sweet treat!

Nutella ice cream sandwiched between 2 oatmeal raisin cookies...heaven. 

This weekend was perfect. The Pilot, baseball, a good run, nutella ice cream? I couldn't have had a better weekend. Now, I'm being lazy and laying in bed with my compression socks. I'm on and off reading "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman, another book off The Book List. So far, I can't put it down. And no, I've never seen the movie.

What have you done for Labor Day weekend? Stayed in? Went somewhere? Stuck with your usual weekend routine? Do you follow food trucks? What's your favorite?

Oh and someone please tell me, am I the only person who makes a complete mess of myself when I eat anything flavored with Nutella?

Happy Weekend everyone!

September 1, 2011

August Recap!


Well, it's September and that means back to school! Classes start on Wednesday and it's my last semester of course work before I start my thesis which means sh*t is gettin' real!

I'm so excited for this semester. I'm taking some pretty interesting (I hope!) classes and doing an awesome research project with a wonderful professor and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

I've been in a weird funk lately but I had an absolutely amazing day yesterday and I feel like I'm on top of the world after it. The Pilot is finally home (thanks, Irene, you're a hoe) and all set to start flying planes! Next time you fly, take a peek in the cockpit! You might see him! I can't wait to have weekly dates with him! I hope we don't get sick of each other...just kidding!

So with the end of another month, means another recap! With less than 6 months to go on The List, I've acknowledged that I'm not going to be able to cross everything odd but you know what? I'm having an awesome time with it so I'm going to keep up with it and just see how much I can cross off! So let's see how I'm doing?

In the month of August, I:

  • Ran 140 miles total...the most mileage I've ever hit in 1 month and am well under way in training for Marathon #2
  • Finally started working on my college scrapbook again
  • Read the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations from The Holy Bible
  • Reached 400 followers on my blog (hello new friends!) and wrote more blog posts than in any other month since I started blogging
  • Visited Minute Maid and PNC Parks, homes of the Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates, my visit to exactly half of all of the Major League ballparks!
  • Read "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad and "Sonnets" by William Shakespeare (and didn't really care for either) from The Book List
  • Watched "To Kill a Mockingbird," "12 Angry Men" and "Apocalypse Now" (all during Hurricane Irene...loved the first 2, hated the second) 

So there you have it! Another productive month out of the way! September is going to be crazy busy and super exciting!

I can't wait.

How did your month shape up?
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