Friday Favorites

…but first, this week in running:
Monday- Ran 10.3 miles at an average pace of 10:10
Tuesday- Rest day: Did crunches. Went for an hour long walk with husband & pup
Wednesday- 3ish mile hill run
Thursday- 6 mile tempo run/5.16 mi at average pace of 9:06.
Friday- Planning to bike once I hit publish.

I’m borrowing the Friday Favorites idea from Kristy.

1. Coffee heath bar ice cream.  This isn’t really a “lately I’ve been enjoying this flavor…” kind of thing.  I like this flavor all the time. Because it is a fact that I enjoy all things coffee.  But whereas I used to get coffee heath bar or coffee chocolate almond ice cream from my beloved Halo Farm in NJ, I picked up this little fellow from my local super-Target.  It has really big chunks of heath bar and it is delicious.

2.  Satsuma Body Wash from The Body Shop.  I don’t know why, but this citrusy tangerine-y scent is like a drug to me. I could smell it all day. I want to smell it all day.

3.  These super cool moving announcement postcards are to officially share our new address with friends and extended family.  Personally, I like getting real mail.  It’s way more fun than email.  Yeah, it’s been almost 2 months since we moved. So what, who cares. 

The talented Emily designed these, sent me the proof electronically, and I had them printed through Vista Print.

4.  I know people either love ‘em or hate ‘em:  Toms.

I got my first pair of Toms last May.  When I decided I wanted a second pair, I had originally seen these in navy canvas and loved them but they were sold out and after months of stalking, they were never restocked.  Next came tan.  Neutral’s good too.

 source

I promise you I am wearing pants.

     

    

And I thought this was a fun springy/summery print that would go with a lot of different colors.

 source

         

I’m not totally sure how I feel about the cuffed jeans look,  but it showed off the shoes better.  And in case you’re in the market for either of these, I had to go down a half size in both styles from my regular shoe size.

5. Key Lime Dannon Oikos Traditional Greek Yogurt

I found this flavor at Wegmans in N.J. and it is by far my favorite (probably because it has fat in it) but noticed it was nowhere to be found at my grocery store in California.  Vons has other full fat Oikos flavors, but not key lime. When I asked, they told me they didn’t carry it.  So started my Key Lime Greek Yogurt hunt. I checked Target, Whole Foods (shouldn’t have bothered; it’s not organic), Albertsons, and finally Ralphs before I found it.  And when I did, I stocked up and bought 7.  In fact, I’m going to get more today.

Weekend Highlights

Friday night we drove up to NY to see my parents this weekend.

 Enjoying some fresh air in the rain while stopped in traffic.

Saturday morning we went to the city's Public Market, and ran into 3 people we went to school with!  Had coffee, ate an empanada.

Looked at produce:

Went to a yarn store and touched lots of yarn.  I want to pick up knitting again, but need to find the right project.

Molly ran around, chased some tennis balls, then enjoyed some lawn-time in my parents' backyard.

After dinner, we went and got some frozen custard.  Mmmm, vanilla with rainbow sprinkles. (Amazed I couldn't find a picture online of vanilla with rainbow sprinkles in a dish).

(source)

Then played Euchre.  I have not met anyone in NJ who knows how to play euchre!

 Bonus points if you can tell me what's weird about this picture.

Sunday we went out for breakfast at a favorite place where I had eggs benedict with tomato and avocado.  Of course it was awesome since it had avocado.

Then I sampled tons of olive oil and vinegar.

 (Picture from a store email)

After trying so many interesting kinds of balsamic vinegar (coconut, dark chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, honeyed ginger) and oils (squash seed oil, basil, lime, herbes de Provence, Tuscan garden).

I bought a bottle of the Tuscan Garden which is made with oregano, rosemary, sage, and garlic.  While there were so many crazy kinds, this seemed like a more versatile ones to have at home.  The chocolate was pretty good but I don't know how often I'd use it and it only came in big bottles.

Molly checked the forecast to see if the rain would let up for us to pack up the car:

 No signs of letting up.  

So we drove 6.5 hours home in the rain.  But not before swinging through the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru. 

 Molly requested a kibble latte, but they were all out.

Thursday night's Boot Camp kicked my butt.

I've been taking the weekly boot camp class at my gym for the last 6 weeks or so.  It is intense, and I usually feel it in some muscle group (or two or three) the next day.  This week, the regular boot camp instructor was out of town so we had a sub.  I was warned that this sub might be tough, but I had no idea!!

Some of the instructors for our gym's classes also teach at a local (bigger) gym.  I think last night's class is more like what the sub instructor does at her other gym:

BodyAttack
The sports-inspired cardio workout for building strength and stamina. This high-energy interval training class combines athletic aerobic movements with strength and stabilization exercises. 1 hr.

I was stuck at work late, and had half an hour to get home, get changed, and get to the gym.  My commute is about 20-25 minutes so I knew I was going to be a little late, and figured better late than not at all.

Well, when I walked in, the other two girls in the class were doing wall sits.  The instructor turned to me, and said, "Before you join them, I need you to do 20 push ups.  On your toes." Yikes.  So I did that, then joined them for some wall sits. We were then instructed to sit lower.  Then to pick up our weights and hold them with our arms straight, above our head (Why did I grab the 5lbs, not the 3lbs!?)

Side Note: Did you know the Guinness World Record for a Wall Sit is 11 hours, 51 minutes, and 14 seconds!? Check out how tired she is after 11:51:14 has elapsed.



My leg muscles are probably my the strongest of my muscles, and they were shaking.  We were told to put the weights down, then we were supposed to return to the wall sit and alternate lifting our heels off the ground.  It hurt!

The rest of the class is now a blur (maybe I blocked the pain out of my memory) but consisted of:

• plyometric lunges
• jogging in place while kicking our butts
• jogging in place with high knees (you can lift them higher than that!)
• jumping jacks
• this variation on a jumping jack
• tricep overhead extensions with 5lb dumbbells, 3lb dumbbells, and a single 10lb disc
• more wall sits 
• many planks and pushups mixed in (this time knees were allowed)
• jogging laps around the room (we were told to kick or butts while we ran?  It did not come naturally)
• jogging forward until she yelled, then we switched to doing "jacks" backward across the length of the room, then forward jogging, repeat...  
• abwork at the end including:
• crunches
• bicycles
• laying on your back with legs extended/feet as close to the ground as possible.

I'm sure this burned way more calories than my regular bootcamp, but I'm still a little sore today! (And it's Saturday afternoon).  I'm also sure that if I wore my Heart Rate Monitor, I would have seen that I needed to step it down a little or take more of a break between some of those moves.  My face was beat red at times, as were the faces of the other two in the class.

One thing I thought was interesting is that this instructor did not do the moves with us.  She might have done one or two to demonstrate a new move, but she mostly stood there and yelled.  The regular boot camp instructor did everything with us, and knew when it was time to take a little break or to switch to something else.

I think I'm crazy, but I would probably try a class like this again - just not every week.  I think those plyometric lunges and some of the knee-high jogging is probably rough on the knees, and my main goal right now is to be training for my April half marathon, with a little strength on the side -- not killing my body.

Anyway.

Good thing Friday was a rest day!  It was another 90 minute delayed opening for work due to a couple inches of snow that came in the wee hours of the morning.  This is what it looked like when I got my 4:57 am wake up call.  It was dark. 

Hubby also had a delayed opening but decided to work from home.  Working from home apparently also meant organizing our big sampler of K-cups for our new Keurig machine.

After work we tidied up the apartment a little then met a bunch of friends for dinner at a nearby Hibachi restaurant.

I was on the end, and the chef seemed to enjoy picking on me, as I missed the zucchini he tossed in my direction about 4 or 5 times before catching it in my mouth.  After a failed onion volcano, he asked if we wanted more fire, to which we answered yes.  He then held his lighter and whatever is in that squirt bottle of theirs in front of my face and told to me to open me mouth...haha.

I should be doing a 3 mile pace run today.  It is cold out!

This morning we met friends for breakfast (bagels), cleaned the apartment some more, then decided we would finally go see the Harry Potter movie this afternoon (the one that came out back in November) with a movie gift card we got for Christmas.  After sitting for 2.5 hours, I may be more inclined to get in my 3 mile run this evening, regardless of the temperature.  Sunday should be fine for my longer run.  I'm glad Monday is a gym day! Brr.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Keurig! and a Snow Day

After being home for 10 days with our new Keurig, we finally found a home for it and set it up.  We used it for the first time this past Sunday. Woo hoo!  Basically our toaster oven eliminates our need for our regular toaster; so the Keurig is now next to our regular coffee maker where the toaster used to live.

Our Keurig came with a sample pack of 12 K-cups, which is great since I have no idea what kind to order first!

It was really easy to set up.  It just involved filling the reservoir and letting it do a cycle with just water.  Then you put your K-cup in, close it, and hit the small or large sized mug button.

Ta Da!

I had the Emeril Bold; Husband had the Green Mountain Breakfast Blend Decaf.  Both were good!

In other news, this managed to get us a snow day today:

 

Ok, so I didn't take the pictures until about noon.  But they called the snow day last night at about 9:30 which seemed a little premature to me.  I'm not going to complain though, as it meant that I didn't need to get a 5am call about the snow day, interrupting my sleep.  I stayed up til midnight, and slept in until 9:30.  Because I could.

I'm actually very happy to have a day off to break up this week.  The first two days were a little stressful at work, so now I have today to decompress before going back for two more days.  Then a weekend.  Then only a four-day week next week.

Update on Week 1 of half marathon training so far:

Monday night: 1 hour of Spinning.  Didn't stay for abs because husband was making dinner, and I didn't want to miss dinner by staying at the gym for the extra half hour (til 7pm).  Also, we got our new phones in the mail and I was eager to play with them.

Tuesday night: Ran 3.13 miles at an easy pace.  

REALLY easy pace.  Because there was a lot of ice.  And sidewalks with a little bit cleared, then a little bit ice/snow.  And the snow day-inducing snow began last night, at the beginning of my run.  It started off as more of a sleet then switched to a heavier snow.  Temps were about 30-31 for my run.  I tried to remember the whole "easy runs should be 65-75% of Max heart rate" thing.  Which is hard!  For me that's 135-150bpm.  I can get to 135 with a brisk walk.  Anyway, I kept it in mind, and tried to really slow down.  Stopping for ice helped me keep it lower; running up three mini hills at the beginning did not. Avg HR: 157.

Wednesday: Just called my gym (It's the Student Rec Center where I went to grad school - The University also also had a snow day today) and found out that the gym is open 12-7!  I will be heading over there for my speedwork on the treadmill early this afternoon.  First I will take the dog for a snowy walk and deal with cleaning off my car.

My speed work will be: 5 x 400 @ 5k pace.

I used the MacMillan calculator to figure that if I want to hit a half marathon goal time of 2:16-2:20 (I'd really just like to beat 2:20:10), that requires a 5k pace of 9:28-9:45.  I don't anticipate ANY problems running that pace at 400m intervals.  I plan to see what I can do with speedwork in the early part of my training and use that to get a better idea of a realistic goal time.

Happy Wednesday!

A Caffeinated Christmas

Santa and friends brought me lots of coffee-related goods for Christmas:

Christmas Morning:




Christmas Afternoon:

Blooming Flower Tea

Tea Chest with Tea

Outside of Tea Chest

Espresso Beans & Stove-top Espresso Maker

The tea chest will be a great way to organize the random tea bags throughout our pantry (once we drink a lot more tea, since it came with 60 tea bags!)  I have never tried blooming tea before, but I feel like I have read an article about it recently (can't remember where).

And I am super excited about the K-cup machine.  It is a great idea since I like loads of caffeine, but my husband is more sensitive to it and prefers half-caf or decaf.  We usually compromise and make a pot of half-caf.  I feel a little badly because we recently bought a new coffee maker, however - maybe we'll use the individual cups on week day mornings and use the whole pot for weekends when we drink more. Now the issue is to find a place for it... 

Do you have experience with any of these fun coffee/tea items?

Speed work and Coffee

Since on Thursday night I skipped out on the speed work in my training plan to do a shorter run with my husband, I did my speed work today. 

Peanut Butter filled Pretzel Nuggets are my weakness.  

I had a handful of these before embarking on my run this afternoon.

I wore my Lululemon Run: Energy Pullover over a C9 by Champion Long & Lean Tank, my Lululemon Run: Fast Shorts, and SmartWool PhD Running Ultra Light Micro Socks.

I like the ruching detail that runs from the neck to under the arm on both sides.

The collar is not too tight when fully zipped, but also not too loose like some lululemon hoodies.

The zippered pocket is great; I use it for keys and ID.

Note the sad little basil plant I am desperately trying to save.

I'm also a little excited to see in this picture that the backs of my shoes are reflective!

I love this top from last winter.  It's made of running luon; has thumbholes & cuffins; circle mesh from under the arm all the way down the side and all the way down the arm; stand-up collar with ruching; ruching along from shoulder to arm pit in the front, and a back zip pocket.  I only wish it had some more reflectivity besides the logo at the back neck.  I bring along my clip-on light just in case.

I was supposed to a mile warm up, 4x[800@4:59, 400 jog], and a mile cool down for a total of 5 miles.  I tacked on a little extra distance in both the warm up and cool down since today really should have been my long run day.

So my 4 intervals that were supposed to be at 4:59 were... 4:53, 5:08, 4:49, and 4:59.  Not too shabby! I'm amazed I did as well as I did on the first one as that was uphill and on large gravel. I don't have an excuse for number two being slow, it was flat or slightly downhill.

I went out at about 4:15 pm, it was 49F and sunny, no wind; and dropped to about 44F by the time I was done around 5:25 (when it was dark).  I got pretty toasty while doing the intervals, needing to push my sleeves up and unzip my collar.  However, this is what my legs looked like when I got home!

Bright red thighs.  Also, knees are funny looking.

When I came inside, I reached into my handy back zip pocket to put my ID back into my wallet.  And my license was not there.  I had a minor freak out.  I checked the back of the couch, the kitchen table, the counter...the limited places I had been in the thirty seconds since getting back from my run.  I could not find it anywhere.  

Crap.  

Was my license sitting somewhere on a trail, not accessible by car, 2 or more miles from my apartment? I knew I had put it in my pocket when I left!  And I was pretty sure I zipped up my pocket (I checked in the above pictures, actually - to make sure the zipper toggle was over to the left).

Then I remembered that only a short ways from my apartment, my two apartment keys (outside door, apartment door) were jangling together, so I took one of the two from my back pocket and put it in my tiny shorts pocket. Could my license have fallen out when I moved keys around?  I grabbed my keys and ran out the door, to right around where I did the key shenanigans.  Luckily only a couple tenths of a mile away.  And PHEW.  My license was sitting there on the side walk, face down, in front of our nearby bakery.  Where it had apparently been sitting for approximately 1 hour and 9 minutes.

I can't believe I had not noticed that it fell out, but at least I was able to find it! Guess that's a perfectly good reason to get something like a Road ID* so I don't have to bring my driver's license with me.  Or, I could have been more careful when I took my keys out.

Relieved to have found my license, when I came again, I fixed up the half-packet of Starbucks VIA iced coffee I had leftover from earlier this week.

Shortly after that, my husband came home from running errands with a Dunkin Donuts nonfat Gingerbread Latte for me!  It was a nice surprise, and my first gingerbread item of the season.

They asked him if he wanted sugar in the lattes... I can't even imagine drinking this sweet latte with EXTRA sugar.  I was pleased with the latte - sometimes I've gotten them and the flavor (pumpkin or gingerbread) has been over the top like maybe they accidentally put an extra pump in. But tonight's was just right.

Ahh, coffee.

I hope everyone had a good weekend!  

I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow, but at least it's a short week.


PS-
* If you want a chance to win a Road ID, check out the Road ID giveaway over at (Just) Trying is for Little Girls.  Contest ends Friday, November 26, and is open to those in the US and Canada.