January 9, 2012

Perfect Start to the New Year

This weekend was pretty perfect.

It was just the right dose of running, sweating, reading, bull riding, craft store shopping and church going.

Let's rewind.

Friday after work, I was feeling kind of off so I decided to skip my run and opt for some sweating on the elliptical followed by an upper body strength session in the weight room. It was surprisingly easy to phone in a run during my first week of marathon training but I think I need to scale my runs back to 4 runs per week if I'm going to strength and cross train as much as I did this past week and plan to for the rest of my training. I trained for my first marathon on 4 runs per week and I know I can do the same this time around...and hey, if a week rolls around and I feel like running more, I will but for now, I'm scaling back and starting slow.

Saturday, I woke up bright and early slept way later than I expected to and after eating a protein and carb packed breakfast while watching episodes of Boy Meets World, I headed out the door shortly before noon to make the trek to Central Park for my first long run of Madrid training.

Goal: 9 miles @ 9:41/pace (just under 1 minute slower than marathon goal pace).
Actual: 9 miles @ 9:51/pace

I'll take it. I felt like crap the first 4 miles of the run. I was lightheaded and hot and the run just felt hard. I hadn't run in Central Park in over 2 months (yea, that's how much I hate taking the 20-minute subway ride there and back). Somewhere around mile 4.5, I started feeling better and I picked up the pace a little bit. Instead of doing a full loop around the park, I just did 4.5 miles out and back...which was tough since I think the back was tougher hill-wise then the out.


So I finished, and I'm proud of myself for doing so. I haven't lost it...despite this being my longest run since the Hot Chocolate 15k. This week's plan is basically a repeat of the past week's. Another 9 miles which will hopefully feel easier than yesterday's before moving on to some higher mileage.

When I got home, I basically passed out after lunch and then spent the rest of the day in bed reading "Anna Karenina" until I forced myself out of bed to get ready for the PBR Invitational at Madison Square Garden.

Now, PBR stands for two things in life: Pabst Blue Ribbon and Professional Bull Riding. And while I'm pretty sure that my former self could very well have been invited to compete in an invitational of the former, this was a straight up bull riding tournament.

I've been helping out with some stuff at my former internship this week and during our lunch break, some of the guys at work mentioned that they all wanted to go. What they didn't realize was that I'd been itching to go for awhile but didn't have anyone to go with because well, the vast majority of New York City isn't interested in professional bull riding. Shocking, I know.

So I pulled my Justin's out of the closet (fresh from a trip to Nashville), and made my way to The Garden.


I've been to my fair share of rodeos but never to a strict bull riding event so this was awesome...and Madison Square Garden? Was sold out. 




Somehow after all those beers that excitement, I was in bed by a normal hour. I slept in again on Sunday and after breakfast, made my way to the craft store to pick up some things for a DIY project I'm starting this week. I spent the rest of the day cleaning my apartment, watching movies, catching up on blogs and going to church. 

So that was my weekend. How did your weekend shape up? I think my New Year's Goal of leaving my apartment goal is definitely a success so far! How are your New Year's Resolutions coming along? Are you sticking with them? Or are they already out the window?

Have a great week!

9 comments:

  1. Craft store? :) What is the project??

    The long runs will get easier. It is still early in the season!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like you had a nice and active weekend, wish I could run that much!

    Stopping by from Mingle Monday, have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My biggest take-away from your post is that you watched Boy Meets World. And that's amazing! =) Here from Mingle Monday. Great blog. Check mine out if you get a sec!
    www.megansilianoff.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow girl! This post really inspires me to hit the ground running (haha pun intended) with my running and workout goals for this year!

    And I love a good rodeo! What a great weekend!

    Visiting from Mingle Monday :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Productive weekend to me! My best guy friend went to the PBR too! I want to go next year. Hope you have a good week!

    ReplyDelete
  6. sounds like you had a great weekend! nice job on the long run!

    episodes of bmw would definitely distract me too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I really want to go to a PBR event! I've been to lots of rodeos, but never just bull riding.

    I've been thinking about places to look for jobs after graduation and I'm thinking about Texas because I am a country girl through and through!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ahh! I bet the PBR was such a blast! I know nothing about bull riding but I totally would have gone!

    Nice work on the run, lady!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great weekend!! Never been to a bull riding event but it looks like a lot of fun!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...