Attacked by a Pretzel

Ok, so I know I have totally fallen off the blogging wagon. Oops. I’ve just been busy doing other things! I’ve made it a habit since the marathon to say yes more and go and do fun stuff! It’s working. I am still running and working out 5-6 days a week, but nothing to write home blog about. My weeks have been looking like this: 2-3 days of running, 2-3 days of lifting and stairmill, 1-2 days of lifting and spinning class. A nice variety, though I would STILL like to add in some Pilates. It just never quite lines up with my schedule.

Anyway, on Monday morning I woke up early to run. I knew I wouldn’t have time after work cause I had a jam packed week of activities but I didn’t end up having quite enough time to run 6 miles as I had planned.

I woke up with about an hour until I would have liked to start getting ready for work. Already, this is not really enough time to do 6 miles.

I got dressed and went into my kitchen for some water. Eeeeee! GIANT COCKROACH. Not kidding this thing had to be the size of my fist. Ok, so I am kidding. It was like the size of my thumb. But still it was in my kitchen! Gross!!!! And it was way too high up for me to reach it. So, I left for my run. Now with about 40 minutes to run.

I ran 1 mile in 10:06

Then I ran a second mile in 10:21

Then about a half mile later I was trotting up 11th street, passing a little pretzel shop.

Let’s pause for a second. Why (why?!) do people eat pretzel’s for breakfast. It makes no sense to me! At work every Thursday there are pretzels for all for breakfast, and everyone eats them. It baffles me.  I digress…

So I’m running passed the pretzel shop and a woman comes barreling out of the store at the same exact moment I am running by. Her pretzel lands on my shirt mustard side down as she body slams into my arm. I said sorry (even though it was totally not my fault). She glares at me, takes a bite of her pretzel, and walks away.

Ok, pause again for a second. Let’s say you were this crazy pretzel lady. Would you ever eat a pretzel off of a strangers shirt? No, didn’t think so. New question. Would you ever eat a pretzel off of a sweaty strangers shirt? NO! Of course not!

So I watch her walk away in shock and then look down to see one of my favorite tops covered in mustard.  I ran inside for some napkins and wiped off my shirt as best I could. Two women who were standing near by watched the whole thing go down and asked if I was ok. They assured me it was not my fault and that crazy pretzel lady was, in fact, crazy.

After that I just ran home. I was very flustered. I finished mile 3 in 9:45. I guess being attacked by a pretzel makes me faster?

I got home and my new pet was still on my wall. Oh boy, what a way to start a Monday. I had maintenance come up and evict him though.

The next day I had a giant bruise on my arm from the crazy pretzel lady collision. It’ s still there actually!

Yesterday I ran a brutal 10 miles. It was so hot and I had a hard time regulating my breathing. I’m really not looking forward to Broad Street. But I’m going to do it anyway and then take a hiatus from long races.

I’m not giving up on racing entirely though because I just signed up for the Color Me Rad run! It’s a 5k and they paint you through out the run. Definitely different!

In other news, I lost my race bracelet. I am SO sad about that. It had come off a few times since I added the full marathon charm, but I noticed every time. I guess it was just a bit too heavy.

Off to enjoy what’s left of my weekend!

–Melissa

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Back in the swing of things

I finally have a routine again, and it’s been nice! I’m going to do a weekly recap like how I did for the marathon. Here we go!

Monday: Strength – I did a cardio/strength circuit that was killer! It started with 10 minutes on the stairmill (aka the revolving staircase of death). Then a superset of 2 leg moves (I forget which now). Then 6 minutes on the stairmill. Then another superset. Then 4 minutes on the stairmill. And then I ended with 4 more strength moves. It was great!

Tuesday: Run – I would have liked to do speed or tempo, but I decided to just go easy. I headed out with the plan to do 4 – 7 miles. When I got to 4 miles I told myself to suck it up and I did 2 more. I would have gone for 1 more, but I didn’t have enough time before meeting a friend for dinner. It was a perfect night for a run. I kept a 10:17 pace.

Wednesday: Strength – I did the same work out as on Monday but with upper body. It was excellent again. This is definitely a new favorite.

Thursday: Run Rest – I was beat. So I bailed on my run.

Friday: Strength – I worked out with Mom and her trainer. It always kicks my butt!

Saturday: Long-ish run – I did 8 miles around Hoboken. It was so pretty running along the river!

 

The run was tough, but felt really good. I kept a 10:31 pace. Much slower than I used to be pre-marathon, but I ran the whole time (and same for the run on Tuesday). My goal is to get rid of the walking breaks that I got used to during marathon training.

Sunday: Rest!

I also never blogged about the charm that Vic got me for the marathon. Can’t believe I forgot! But here it is.

I love it.

That’s all I’ve got. 4 weeks til Broad Street!

–Melissa

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2 Weeks Post-Race

I had a feeling I would neglect the blog a bit after the marathon. Turns out I was right. 15 days later and I’m back!

It’s been so weird not training for the marathon. My life pretty much revolved around it for 18 weeks. I was either running or  thinking about running or talking about running all the time. I’m glad to be able to focus on other things now, but last Saturday I also found myself missing my long run! So strange.

The week following the marathon I took it very, very easy. I biked and ellipticalled everyday, but with very little resistance and very little speed. I wanted to run at the end of that week even though my legs were still a bit sore, but I ended up not fitting it in. It turns out it was a good thing I didn’t have the time because with a few extra days off of running I felt 100% better. I think it took 8 days to feel totally normal again, which isn’t too bad if you ask me! It was also a nice change to relax!

I went for 2 runs this past week. The first was a 3.5 miler on the treadmill. Now THAT was weird! I didn’t do one training run inside, and I have no idea what compelled me to run on the treadmill this past week. It is definitely less natural than running outside. The second was a speedy 5 miler outside. I kept the pace under 10 minute miles and it was the perfect weather. I ran around my neighborhood and then down to the river. It was fantastic.

I have also added back in strength training, which I am loving! I didn’t realize how much I missed it. I did some great work outs where I did circuits of cardio and strength to keep my heart rate up. It was really fun!

I wanted to run 7 miles this weekend, but the weekend seemed to slip away from me. I’m starting to realize that I will live (shocker!) if I skip a run or two. I don’t want to slack off completely because Broad Street is in a month. But I’m going to try and take a more relaxed approach with this race.

I’ll try to start weekly recaps again, but no promises!

–Melissa

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