Tag Archives: travel

Training for Life Updates

By Posted in Running, Training Tagged , , , , , , , 30 Comments

My posts have been scheduled the last few days and I haven’t commented on many blogs.  I haven’t unpacked and I have been busy doing other things with my life…you know…like real life things.   I want to write a recap of my vacation to New York City but honestly it was just nice family time.  Not a lot went according to plan but it never does. 

I guess I see how people struggle that take some time off from blogging.  I mean my few days of scheduled posts don’t really count but so much has happened in the last week that I don’t even know where to begin to update you.  Not that I really have a lot I’m just overwealmed of where to begin.

I’ll start with the running aspect since this is a running blog.  I’ve missed the last 3 weeks of training posts but easy runs aren’t all that exciting.  Last week I severely cut my miles (read I ran 31 miles) and I sat in a car, went out to eat and was a big pile of lazy.

Every this photo of us on a train since it didn't happen unless it was selfied. #trainselfie

Every this photo of us on a train since it didn’t happen unless it was selfied. #trainselfie

Monday: Off
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: 1.5 hour Cybex 100i
Thursday: 5.4 Mile run with dad (10 min pace?)
Friday: 15.4 Miles with Heather (how that happened…well I don’t know but it was fun and relaxing and at 6am)
Saturday: 10.15 miles with my brother Matt and Dad in Sunken Meadow park near NYC
Sunday: OFF (driving back to va)

Total: 30 miles

Here is something that irritated me a little bit last week.  I never publically announced I was taking a bunch of rest last week until later in the week…I didn’t really feel the need honestly.  On Wednesday, I got two emails asking if I was injured or taking a “dailymile break”.  If I was taking a dailymile break, that really wouldn’t be a big deal either.  The fact that it was almost unheard of to take days off is sad and I think a lot of that stems from blogging mentality.  When you take multiple days off you are training smart…you aren’t honoring your body and you aren’t Gods gift to the world and you certainly don’t need to try and give multiple reasons of your days off.

I took an easy week last week because I felt like it.  It wasn’t hard and it was just as beneficial (if not more) than logging multiple high mileage easier running weeks.  So that’s that.

I am starting a new training cycle this week.

Training for what?

Well that depends on June 1st and if I get into the New York City Marathon.  (I know…if you didn’t know I actually applied for that) 

If I do get it in I won’t do any serious training until Labor Day.  My primary (and the hardest goal for me throughout summer training) is to remain injury free.   So that’s that.  If I can stay injury free through the Rock and Roll half marathon VA Beach then I’ll begin incorporating longer runs (and especially as it gets cooler).

I actually plan to race nearly every weekend (mostly 5ks) this summer.  I’d like to get some nice speed workouts in and since I don’t do a lot of that by myself I think racing is my best bet.  Plus, I get to see all my friends anyways so that wasn’t really every a question.

So I guess even if I do get into NYC, I won’t really worry about it until Labor Day.  So there you go…my running is going smoothly for now.

Questions for you:

Do you take planned rest days?

For me, I don’t run when I don’t feel like it…which pretty much happens once every couple of weeks.   Then every couple of months I’ll take a few days off.  I don’t plan them though.

Weekly Life Musings

By Posted in DailyMusings, Personal Tagged , , , , , , , , , , 23 Comments

What have I been up too this week?

Well your guess is as good as mine…kidding…somewhat.  After my half marathon last weekend (I only stuck around about an hour), I headed back North to Baltimore, more specifically Goucher College.  My brother’s track team was competing in their conference championships so it was pretty convenient that that was only about an hour away.  (It was kind of like a no brainer to go see him)…He was not actually competing because of some shin issues but he was indeed there.  (but that was better for my selfish self because we could go out to lunch).

mattandi

It was actually the first collegiate track meet that I have ever watched and it was pretty interesting.  It just reminds me of a big swim meet…

Also at the track meet was Sarah (it is after all her school hosting).  We chatted for a bit and took this photo in the lovely wind tunnel that had somehow happened mid day.  (The race in the morning had basically no wind and then by 4pm I thought I might blow away).

sarahandi

Then on Monday, I finally drove back to upstate (after staying the night at Tim’s parents’ house in PA).  I’m not looking forward to that drive in less than two weeks.  Can we talk about how much I really hate driving?  Okay, okay.

Wednesday I got dinner with an old college friend.  I was so excited to see her Caitlin (you may recall if you read my blog when I was in college).  She is an incredible human being and the amount of BS she deals with is pretty ridiculous.  I’m glad we could hang before I left.

caitlinandi

We went to my favorite restaurant in Oswego which I hadn’t been too in a couple of months, Water Street Café.  I got my usual salad with salmon and spicy vinaigrette and it is normally huge.  I was oddly disappointed, because it seemed they had changed it and it was a lot smaller and therefore I left still somewhat hungry.  I haven’t been in a couple of months so maybe it was their Winter to Spring change or something but needless to say I had to eat afterword’s.  I might go again during lunch before I leave to see if I just hit them at a bad time, but at least I had good company so it wasn’t a loss.  I still recommend Water Street to anyone (who comes to Oswego?), I just have an appetite and therefore was more hungry than that salad.

salmonsalad

On Thursday, our work hosts an Open Mic night for the students on campus.  Last night was themed as “Twinnzies Night”, so naturally my housemate and I had to dress up like little Country girls with leather Jackets.  Which really meant…hmmm what will go with these leather jackets and is at clearance at TJ maxx?

The only appropriate caption is... precious...

The only appropriate caption is… precious…

Other then that, I’ve just been catching up on work and sleep.  For me, this week has really flown by and I know the last two will as well due to having work to finish before leaving.  Well that is more photos and musings of my personal life than I’ve posted all month…so see you next month.  ha. 

Questions for you:

Has a restaurant ever changed the menu for the better or worse on you?

What have you been up to this week?  What are you up to this weekend? 

April Showers Bring Moving May Flowers

By Posted in Personal Tagged , , 41 Comments

I’m not going to lie, I wrote this post a really long time ago…as in mid April.  A lot of bloggers use the first day of the month to explain goals, changes in their lives for the month…ect.  I have a habit of doing this as well (probably every 2-3 months) but now seemed like the perfect to time to publicly announce that I’m moving. 

I haven’t exactly been quiet about it, but I haven’t point blank said hey guys I am leaving Upstate NY…forever…or at least an extended period of time.  Now, after spending 5 years here, it seems weird to say that.  As of right now, I’m going back down to VA Beach area and living with my parents.  I don’t plan to stay there forever (obviously) and have started job hunting around that area.   I can’t tell you how long I’ll be there but I know it will at least be through the summer.  I have an idea of what I want to do after but that is a post for when I commit to that decision and for another 1st of the month post.

So why leave Upstate (Arctic Tundra, NY?)

Well, first and foremost…I really loved my job up here.  I enjoyed the people, what I did, and the actual work.  I’ll probably do an overview post before I leave, just recapping the year because it truly deserves that.

Do I enjoy the area?  No.  It’s no secret that I don’t enjoy the cold but also it’s a college town.  A big focus of this town is the bar scene and I wasn’t a big bar goer in undergrad, let alone when I work at a college.  When you live in a town that the only thing to do is go to the bars and anything else is a bit of hike…well it takes a toll on you.  It’s also a bit of a conflict of interest to “party” with students.  (That and it’s a conflict of my own interests for waking up and running…oh and that I just don’t enjoy going to bars.).  Moving on.

But as your life doesn’t solely revolve around running or working out, it doesn’t solely revolve around your job.  Your job can only really be a portion of the day…then what?

So yes, that is why I have decided to leave and find a more suitable environment for me.  As I said, I loved my job, I’m leaving on good terms but the area is far from my family and also Tim.   That being said,  I still have no interest for the cold. I’m not moving away because I can’t run outdoors in the winter (I don’t mind the treadmill and why would I move to VA where it’s now 90 degrees…) Though I’m skipping Spring completely going from NY cold to southern VA heat.   Since I didn’t actually say when I’ll be back in VA, it’s in about 2.5 weeks (around May 18).  I’m seeing the semester through and then leaving.

So there.  Surprise and my goal of May is to move and secure a job.  Finally since I know where I’ll be for a few months I was able to make a rough race schedule but I’ll probably fill the rest of the weekends with 5ks.

Question for you: Have you ever made a decision to move far away?

Well obviously, I went 700 miles away from college and then stayed up here a year afterwords…I think that’s far far away.

Vacation Dinner Food

By Posted in Food Tagged , , , , , , , , , 25 Comments

And foodie day 2. 

So anyways, in San Antonio we ended staying directly on the Riverwalk.  If you have never been there, it’s a nice stretch of River where you walk…go figure.  (Isn’t it nice when things are exactly what they appear to be?) It’s a few miles long and had restaurants, bars, stores…everything for your tourist encounters.  It’s a lot of fun and something that is on the San Antonio big tourist list.

To the untrained eye this just looks like a picture of us being tourists but really it is us on top of the bridge where Selena was filmed.

timandi

The first thing I wanted after checking into our hotel was Mexican food.  More like guacamole.  We stopped at the first restaurant we saw called the Maria Mia.

guacomole

The singing mariachi band swarmed us before we could even order and sang.  I dubbed them my vacation boyfriends.

singingmen

Maria Mara asked if we wanted guacamole with our chips…what a silly question.  I basically ate this entire thing.  I have never been to a restaurant where so many staff asked how we were doing.  I almost couldn’t choke down my food because every minute someone else was asking.

tacosalad

Anyways back to my salad. If this was how my vacation was going to go…well I didn’t mind one bit.  I love taco salads, nothing beats the moment when you are like done with my salad…now I got a taco to eat.

I had a few taco salads on my vacation (by a few I mean 4).

bonus round

bonus round

We also went to a restaurant called Texas de Brazil.  This is a chain restaurant and it has probably become my favorite restaurant of all time.  It isn’t cheap (roughly 50 dollars per person) but it is 100% worth it.  You have unlimited salad bar with everything from goat cheese, asparagus, smoked salmon, couscous…really everything.

This was 1 of about 10 rounds.

This was 1 of about 10 rounds.

Then they bring you all different types of meats whenever you want.  There are literally waiters that go around the restaurant and their only job is to serve the various types of meats: steak, pork, filet mignon, lamb.  You can choose pieces cooked anywhere from medium rare to well done (but it seems like a sin in Texas to get anything not medium rare…I like that anyways).  I left barely waddling out and all I wanted to do after was sleep.  So I did.

Medium rare prime rib

Medium rare prime rib perfection

If you are anywhere near one a Texas de Brazil, I highly recommend it.  Not only because you the food is amazing, but because it is just a really cool and interesting experience.  Just to give you an idea, there was a lady on tight ropes doing flips and stuff behind glass…while we were eating.  I should have taken a photo but I was too busy eating.

Isn’t that what vacation is for?

Questions for you:

Favorite restaurant of all time?

Have you ever been to the River Walk? 

Vacation Breakfast Food

By Posted in Uncategorized Tagged , , , , , , , , , , 28 Comments

Travel for me means throwing most of my cares of nutrition and training out the window and I don’t really deny that.  Lucky for me, Tim likes to run and I like to run so I can get some easy runs in so I don’t really throw any sort of run out the window or feel like a bother basing a schedule around when we run.  Recovering from the Shamrock half though I felt somewhat bad that we would be running much slower than he would like.  Oh well we still ran 71 miles together this week.

But this post isn’t about running.  It’s about some of the delicious food that I got my hands on.  I actually didn’t have very much that I was disappointed in (normally when you go out to eat for 15 meals, you have at least one that was like meh).  I am contemplating adding more dining experiences into my blog.  Since I can’t cook but enjoy blowing my budget at various restaurants it seems like a good idea.

Let’s start with breakfast because those are my favorites.

This seems like it was a million years ago but I got breakfast with Shannon a couple Friday’s ago at a local favorite of ours Broken Egg Bistro.  shannonandi

If you are ever in the VA Beach area, I highly recommend it.  It’s a small breakfast café and their eggs (not to mention pancakes) are always the bomb.  I tend to go every single time I’m home and every single time I see Shannon.  They refilled my coffee cup at least a dozen times and you know if I can report that I’m good to go.  (OH and they have French vanilla creamer for your coffee on site.  If that isn’t enough to convince you…well…I don’t know what is).

always perfection

always perfection…Coastal Omelet (ie: omelet with crab meat inside)

 

Moving on to Texas-

Anyways Tim and I also got breakfast twice in the San Antonio area (post runs) at a little café called the Egg and I.  The Egg and I quickly became a Texas favorite of mine since you could get different types of coffee…instead of house you got the choice of house, hazelnut, rainforest and something else tat I forgot.  We chose the hazelnut.

coffee

The first day I got the Medetterian Frittata (I still don’t know what the difference between that and omelet is that…both are eggs with things in them).  I tend to get a lot more egg related foods going out to eat because I cannot cook eggs to save my life.   The fresh fruit was actually fresh (that sounds funny but it wasn’t like soggy or weird ha).

egg

We certainly got called out the second day being there again but I’m always a regular places.  I had an Avocado and Chicken Omelet.  I think the avocado and chicken was a little more my style because it was a bit more filling and after running 15 miles…you kind of want that.  I really like avocado (look at me being foodie…what foodie blogger isn’t obsessed with avocado?).

omelet

On my last morning before leaving Texas…Tim asks how early I am willing to get up for pancakes.  Which in our case was 3:50 am.  I showered and was ready to leave by 4:15 (I’m pretty high maintenance…just ask when I decide running an extra 10 minutes is better then an extra 10 minutes in the shower).

pancakes

For these bad boys at the local diner called Skillets (no website).  It’s Tim favorite restaurant and now one of my favorites too.  I got healthy chocolate chip pancakes.  Just kidding, I don’t think they have voodoo pancakes there…I asked a few times though. Like I’ve said a few times, I normally get egg type things at diners because I can’t cook eggs…I try but fail.  They come out burnt and crispy or the yolk breaks…ect.  However, you don’t just not get pancakes at a restaurant with a giant pancakes sign.  These were really good and I know for a fact when I go back to Texas (not if…when) I will be eating there…a lot…everyday…

pancakes1

Anyways, I have a lot more restaurants that I went to (and will continue to post about).  I’m thinking of doing more restaurant related posts.

Question for you: What is the best breakfast place you’ve ever been too?