After the NYC Marathon 3 weeks ago I tossed my iPod and earbuds (with the missing ear piece) and Garmin into a drawer. Luckily for me there was enough battery power left in both because yesterday I WENT FOR A RUN! No set pace or distance to follow. Only requirements were to enjoy my tunes and feel the sunshine and brisk air on my face.

garmin-3miles

dorky pose to start the run

dorky running pose

When I came back I stretched my back and hamstrings which have been very tight lately.

Always keeping me company

Always keeping me company

There’s this song I’ve been obsessed with lately. Heard it on yesterday’s run. It’s called Catch and Release by Matt Simons. The lyrics sort of remind me of my connection to running. My special place to “release what builds up throughout the day”. Ironically trying to draft this post has created so much stress thanks to some weird “http error” stuff when trying to upload images I’m headed back out shortly for another run and hoping that I get to hear the song again. =) #prayingtotheshufflegods

 

Oh, and remember i mentioned that my Keurig died? Well I have a new one thanks to my awesome sister.

2.0!

2.0!

And remember my struggle with those Brooks Ghosts that I sadly had to return? Well last night Mr. SOTSS and I went outlet mall shopping and there was an Asics outlet and they had the Asics Cumulus 16’s…..in my size!!!!! I literally couldn’t even find them online anymore (well I had ordered one pair in a different color scheme but they were too small even though they said there were size 8 so I had to return them). I’m so stoked. This will give me a good 6 months before I’ll need to find a new model to work with my particular and wonky feet.

newkicks

Best feeling in the world to be reunited with my favorite kicks

old next to the new! I can thank the Beat the Blerch trail half marathon for the old ones looking so ratty

old next to the new! I can thank the Beat the Blerch trail half marathon for the old ones looking so ratty

I felt like Cinderella trying on her glass slipper. Fit like a glove. The night got even better when we came home to watch a movie and indulge in some decadence via ice cream, cookies and vino.

Best ice cream flavor I've tried in a while. And I went with Sterling merlot. I went to their vineyard in Napa a few years back and was feeling nostalgic =)

Best ice cream flavor I’ve tried in a while. And I went with Sterling merlot. I went to their vineyard in Napa a few years back and was feeling nostalgic =)

OK, well I’m off now to go for another run with no requirements. YIPPEEE! LOVE THE OFF SEASON!!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. And big shout out to Mr. SOTSS’ two daughters who are minutes away from starting their Girls on the Run 5k. Good luck girls! Have a great run!!!!

Hi!
I’ve been so busy lately and haven’t had a chance to post in a while. My list of to-dos keeps getting longer rather than shorter. My day job is insanity and then on most evenings and weekends I have freelance work on top of that! And then there’s life—the other half of the work/life balance. Yep, I’ve been living it up lately 🙂 I had lots of fun stuff going on this weekend.
My niece turned 15 last week and I took her into the city on Saturday to celebrate.city-sushi-shopping
I told her how I felt like it was just last year that I was taking her to the American girl doll store. She’s not a little girl anymore but I am ok with it. I love the teenager that she has become and we have so much in common that I feel like I’m out with a friend or a sister. The day was filled with two of our favorites: shopping and sushi. Oh and we also went to this bakery where you can order a cookie shot. No vodka. This is milk in a warm chocolate cookie shot glass with melted dark chocolate at the bottom.
Cheers!

Cheers!

Sarah isn’t a runner but she is definitely an active person. She takes yoga/Pilates in high school for her required gym class which I think is so cool. And she loves going to classes like Soul Cycle and there’s one she insists I join her to called SLT (Strength Length and Tone). She also pitches on her high school softball team. And she loves to wear athletic gear. So we hit up Lululemon and the flagship Nike store. And then to top off our night we ate at KOI, an amazing sushi restaurant in mid-town.
I spent some time with Mr. SOTSS this weekend too. Sunday morning we had our coffee out on his deck enjoying the unseasonably warm weather (it’s been in the 80s which is a good 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year )
The dogs enjoyed chilling on the deck too

The dogs enjoyed chilling on the deck too. It’s like they have butt magnets. LOL!

We also each went for a run…

2-mile-run
I am limiting myself to 2 mile runs this week. I know I said I’d try and just cross train this week and not start running until the weekend but I just couldn’t find it in me to cross train at the gym. I almost took my bicycle out yesterday instead of running buy my rotator cuff is still a mess and I don’t know how steering and using the hand brakes would be. The whole arm is quite weak and stiff and can’t take on too much weight.
The ankle tendonits seems manageable at the moment, so my compromise is 1-2 short runs this week and some walking. Plus my stretching and foam rolling.
After our runs we went to my brother’s house for a Mother’s Day brunch and then, in the late afternoon we spent some time with the pups at the beach.
One of us knows how to look at the camera for a picture and the other blogs.

One of us knows how to look at the camera for a picture and the other blogs.

Mr. Sweat Out The Small Stuff in Shades...say that 10X fast. And then say "Sally sells snail shells" too.

Smiley Mr. Sweat Out The Small Stuff in Shades…say that 10X fast. And then say “Sally sells snail shells” too.

Pretty little snail shell

Pretty little snail shell

While temps inland had reach the mid 80s it was between 65-70 at the beach. Perfect for waking along the water. The only fly in the ointment wasn’t a fly but a tick…actually a few ticks. Yuck yuck yuck! I loathe those things. We gave the dogs a good look over and hopefully we got all those buggers. They get monthly preventatives too just in case. Later on in the evening we were back out on the deck for a little barbecue dinner and some frozen strawberry daiquiris. 🙂

drinks-patio

drinks to match the patio furniture

MMMMMM!

MMMMMM!

Duncan had one too many….

I should have stopped at one drink...

I should have stopped at one drink…

I’m signed up for the Brooklyn Half Marathon this coming Saturday and I’m really wrestling with whether I should be running it. I’m not going to make any decisions until the end of the week. And I do plan on going to the expo to get my bib so I will be prepared either way.
There are a lot of things to consider:
1. Status of my current healing progress of injuries: My ankle and hip are not 100 percent although the knee is.
2. Logistics: It’s a point to point course with a huge field of runners (30,000 runners I think) and two waves that are about 30 minutes apart. So since most of my friends will be in the first wave I might miss them or I might need to arrive that much earlier to see them and then sit around. And that means needing to find doodle sitting since I’ll be gone for 8 or more hours.
3. Potential consequences of running a half after barely running since my full 2 weeks ago: I am running a 5k the next day that I don’t want to be crippled for.
So you see why I have turmoil. Oh and let’s not forget that I had to bail on this race last year due to injury and that’s the one driving force that is making me stew about still running. I don’t want to miss it 2 years in a row 🙁
I’ll keep you posted.
So how was your weekend? Were you a busy bee or a relaxed chickadee?
Do you do the pro/con list to help make decisions. 

 

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. I have been nonstop busy and am finally getting a chance to catch you up on my little life. (Sitting in traffic while commuting on a bus to work = new blog post opportunity!)

So Thursday I was just about to prepare dinner for me and the boyfriend when I got a text that said his train was delayed and he would be 40 minutes late. I quickly suggested driving to his house so that I could have dinner ready when he made it home and he wouldn’t have to first drive the half hour to my house. He loved the idea. So I tossed my shrimp, spinach, pasta and the doodle into the car and off we went.

Over the bridge and through the woods to Mr. SOTSS' house we go

Over the bridge and through the woods to Mr. SOTSS’ house we go

Timing was perfect. I fed the dogs and let his dog chester out in the yard and got to work whipping up dinner. I felt so domestic. 🙂 Mr SOTSS walked in the door and set the table and next thing you knew we were enjoying the meal. I love my bright ideas. 🙂 

this is what was happening while I was cooking dinner.

this is what was happening while I was cooking dinner.

Friday I waited all day for the windshield replacement guy to come. He was so backlogged that he said he wouldn’t be able to start until 7:30 pm. It was drizzling and my garage is not big enough to maneuver around so we agreed to meet at an underpass under the highway. I felt a little weird about it so I took Duncan for safety precautions.

new windshield being installed

new windshield being installed

It was a little too noisy under the highway for this doodle's taste

It was a little too noisy under the highway for this doodle’s taste

It all worked out well and then I came home to bake a couple of cakes for the weekend. I had two family functions to attend on the boyfriend’s side of the family and our responsibility was to bring dessert. Even more domesticity here!

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt cake and rum cake

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt cake and rum cake

Saturday I did some freelance work in the morning and then headed out to family function number one with the lemon blueberry yogurt cake. I didn’t master the glaze very well. Oh well. It still tasted delicious. 

Sunday morning Mr. SOTSS and I both took advantage of the last long on-course training run that the New Jersey Marathon offers. I wanted to try out some new socks I bought to make sure they’d be ok for the marathon. (more on that later) but more than anything I wanted to see how it felt to run that far having missed so much training. I knew mentally I’d need to conquer this if I planned on doing the 26.2 come April 26th! I drove down separately and started with the 7am group so I could try and complete the 16 miles before 10:15am and Mr. SOTSS started with the 8am group to get in 11 miles (he runs 2-3 minutes per mile faster than me).

Parked the car just in time for the sunrise

Parked the car just in time for the sunrise

7am and ready to hop run

7am and ready to hop run

We got to see each other when he was at mile 4 and I was at mile 7 which was nice. 🙂 A quick kiss and hug and then we parted ways. I bumped into Allison, the woman I met while running the marathon last year.  

Allison...the woman who talked my ear off during last year's race and helped me get through a good chunk of the race!

Allison…the woman who talked my ear off during last year’s race and helped me get through a good chunk of the race!

And then I met another runner named Darren. He wasn’t sure of the course so he asked if we could run together. I was fine with it at first since it helped pass the miles but he was a bit faster than me. I knew 10 minute miles were not sustainable so at mile 9 when we stoped at a water stop, i bid him farewell. There were lots of other runners for him to tag along with so I knew he would be ok. My body definitely started to break down by about mile 11 or 12 and those socks that I was testing out?

everything will make an appearance on 4/26 except the socks

everything will make an appearance on 4/26 except the socks

#FAIL! I ended up with blisters on both pinky toes. So I’ve decided not to wear them on race day. My ankles were bothering me too. The knee however held up great. The only time it felt uncomfortable was when I would start back up after stopping at the water stops (these were self serve stops so I had to open a jug of water and fill my water bottle). But it always quickly recovered.

At mile 13 I reached the boardwalk and ran the last 3 miles on it. I saw Mr. SOTSS on the beach with Chester (killing time while he waited for me to finish) and they came up to say a quick hello.

love this guy!

Best sight ever!

I told him I’d be done running in about 30 minutes so he went to Dunkin Donuts and got us egg sandwiches and coffee and sat down on a bench waiting for me. I stopped running when I reached the bench and my watch said 16.04! Perfect. We sat on the bench and enjoyed the ocean view (it was 58 degrees and sunny too!) and chowed down. My run was manageable but definitely not effortless. I slowed down a lot at the end. I’m definitely not concerned about my finish time at the marathon. I just.want.to.finish!

16 miles....done

16 miles….done

By the time we finished eating our sandwiches it was 10:30am. I needed to get home and showered so we could make our way to family function number 2 and bring cake # 2, the rum cake.

Today my ankles feel ok. The left one is tight so I’m going to focus on stretching and rolling a whole lot the next few days. It’s hard to believe that the marathon is just 20 days from today.

I’m getting excited! I could visualize my family on the course as I ran yesterday. I know how important it will be this year when I see them just past mile 16. Since my training only got me to 16 it’ll propel me into the final frontier….the last 10 miles….and then I’ll see them at mile 22 when I’m really pushing. I’m also excited that the half and the full start at the same time this year so that Mr. SOTSS and I can hang in the corrals together and give each other some last minute support before we start running.

So how was your weekend? Did it involve running? wearing bunny ears? cake?

Hi there.

Well, 4 days since my snowmobile “incident” and I am seeing some small signs of improvement with my shoulder. The pain is mostly gone unless I try and lift my arm up or out past my current range of motion limitations. That’s the part that’s taking the longest to return to normal…my range of motion. I can’t raise my arm forward past the 90 degree point yet. So basically i can shake someone’s hand but I can’t wash my hair (well I wash it with only one arm). The same goes for out to the side. But I’m not popping ibuprofen anymore. I stopped yesterday. I needed to give my stomach a break. It was feeling a bit irritated from the pills. With all the commotion of the weekend in Vermont and coming back to a really busy week at work, combined with winter storms leaving my free minutes consumed with trying to shovel (laughable with one arm), salting, warming up the car a little longer, walking slower with the dog because of the ice etc, I haven’t been keeping up with my knee rehab. Shame on me!!! And I haven’t been exercising at all!

Today I finally had a breather with a little flexibility in my schedule. It was really cold and windy but I knew both Duncan and I needed some exercise. I bundled up and we went to one of my favorite quiet spots. Warning: This is where my blog becomes consumed with labradoodle cuteness.

happy to be moving!

happy to be moving!

the snow had a layer of ice so he sort of glided.

the snow had a layer of ice over it so he sort of glided.

We trudged through what looked like the tundra and eventually when that got exhausting we walked along the paved paths.

labradoodle snow

My paws are cold ma. Just gonna stand here for a minute

doodle-poser

such a poser!

my footsteps to the left

my footsteps to the left

trail-tundra

No filter

wetlands

wetlands are more frozen than wet

I figured that with my shoulder still out of commission for a bit and my knee still resting I am limited to what types of exercise I can accomplish. So for now, outdoors will only be walks when I can.

still sitting with a stick

sitting with a stick

walking with a stick...

walking with a stick…

sitting with a stick

sitting with a stick again

at least one of us can run

at least one of us can run

After walking for an hour or so we came home, I showered and got ready to head into the city to meet some friends for dinner and drinks and catch up on life. I made sure to put some nice red lipstick on. I’ve been eating a little more than I should and exercising a little less lately which has made me feel a little extra “fluffy” lately….so the lipstick kinda helped me feel a little better about myself.

IMG_3099

Accentuate the positive

I caught the most beautiful sunset…

IMG_3101

Dinner was fun. And of course ended in dessert. This was an almond pear cake/ice cream combo.

IMG_3100Looks like I’ll be wearing red lipstick a little longer. =)

How do you clean up your act when you find you’ve been eating too much and not moving enough? Do you beat yourself up or do you know it’ll work itself out?