Tag: lifestyle

me running
Running, Training

Training: Recovering and Easy Runs

Hollie

Training last week was anything but exciting.  I ran the Shamrock half last Sunday, and I can’t say I’m fully recovered from the race.  I had thought about jumping into the Love Run Half in Philadelphia yesterday, but I didn’t feel like racing hard when I didn’t feel 100%.

Most of my runs throughout the week were easy, and there was too crazy.  I ran a couple of times with my husband before he left on Tuesday.  On Saturday, I ran into one of coworkers during her first run back after an injury that involved surgery.

I did have two workouts to ease me back into running hard:

Thursday:
8X2 min hard (average 6:21 pace)
4X45 seconds hard (average 6:00 pace)
4X 30 seconds hard (average 6:00 pace…goal was 5:27)

I didn’t feel awful during my workout on Thursday, but my calves felt sore.  After my workout, I went and got ART on my calves from Dr. Kemonosh and staff, which immediately loosened them up.  Why I didn’t go earlier in the week is a mystery to me.  They are still tight, but significantly looser than beforehand.

Sunday:
As I mentioned, I contemplated jumping into the Love Run, but my body was not ready.  Could I have finished?  Yes but I know I wouldn’t have been happy or thrilled with the result.
3X1 mile (6:20 average per mile)
3×1000 (6:19 average per mile)
3X600 (6:01 average per mile)

While this workout was slower than anticipated, I was proud of myself for getting out the door and getting it done.

Next Week:

Next week I’m racing the Phillies 5k (In the last 12 months, it is my fastest 5k).  I’m looking forward to it.  I have talked with my coach recently, and I believe I run my best as well as being mentally happier when I race frequently.  We will be adding several 5ks in my calendar and racing more frequently.

Posts from the week:
Why 5ks are the Best
Shamrock Half Marathon (1:26.49)
3 Years or Reviewing NJ Diners

Questions fo you:
Do you find yourself running better when you race more or less?
What was your best workout of the week?

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life

Weekly Recap

Hollie

I’ve thought about doing a personal life weekly recap.  I have a lot of friends and family that read LOLZ blog, but I barely ever talk about my “real life.”  While this blog is heavily running focused, it isn’t everything I do.

Sometimes I think I’m living a double life: Blogging and the outside world.  I’m not hiding anything from blogging, but I tend to microblog on Instagram or Facebook.

I thought I would start adding more personal life updates as well.

This week was a great week. My sister in law Lindsay graduated with her master’s degree.  I made the quick trip down to the DC area to watch her graduation.  It was a very good time seeing my family, and I definitely miss them.

mastes graduation

Yesterday I got my blood drawn for Inside Tracker.  I was given a discount to talk about my experience. To be honest, I was nervous about the entire thing.  I scheduled the appointment just over two weeks ago, and I wanted it to be over sooner than later.  I’ve never dealt well with needles.  I  can’t relax enough for them to get into the vein.  I also pass out the majority of the time giving blood or getting shots.  Needless to say, needles are a big deal for me. I paid the extra fee to have a certified nurse come to my house and take my blood at 7 am.  Since we had to fast 12 hours beforehand and I wake up hungry in the morning, this was the best option for me.  The Nurse was kind and helpful, and I watched Netflix, which kept my mind off it.  Everything went smoothly, and I was shocked at how easy it was.

I decided to try Inside Tracker for a number of reasons.  Since we are in the military, I don’t have a Primary Care doctor. It would take a lot of hoops for me to get a “routine blood test” after just getting one from my fracture (only with a few minerals such as calcium and Vitamin D) and the results being normal.  The miliary has great insurance, but I have no life-threatening conditions and in fact, I am healthy.  My quality of life is fine and I wanted a blood test “just to know” and to make sure that my nutrients are appropriate for running.  InsideTracker, while expensive, was the best route for me to take.  I have also seen several bloggers and others use and have great success with it.  Plus, Insider Tracker gives out fun bandaids.

InsiderTracker

Since my fracture still doesn’t have an exact cause I’m hoping my blood work might reveal something.  Either way knowing that information will be good knowledge to have, and I’m looking forward to the results. Once I have the results, I’ll be sure to talk more about it.

Last night for work we also hosted our first “Paint Your Own Race Medal Holder” event.  It was a lot of fun, and we sold out the event.  They have painting parties, so we thought, why not a race medal painting party?

running co paint night

Recent Posts: 
26 Things I learned before Age 26
Training Last Week (Summary: not so great)
Hiking at Bear Mountain (New York State)
A Day in the Life

Question for you:

How was your week?  Have you been busy? Quiet?

 

flying

Flying to North Jersey

Hollie

Last week my husband and I took a flight up to Northern New Jersey.  As I mentioned last time, if you have a pilot’s license and are qualified on the plane, you can rent an airplane.  So that’s exactly what we did. It’s like renting a car except you rent a plane.

Throughout the years, LOLZ blog has taken many different turns about life and other random topics.  Most recently, flying has seen its way into my life.  Like going to diners, it’s a fun hobby that both my husband and I enjoy doing so it makes sense to blog about it.  Since I’m not running much, I need something to talk about right?

tim and I

This time, we decided to fly up to Pompton Plains, New Jersey.  Neither of us had been to that general area of New Jersey, so we thought why not?  We also wanted to check out the Pompton Queen Diner.  It was recently ranked as one of the top diners in New Jersey, and I can see why! That deserves it’s own post for another day…

We flew out of Southern New Jersey and headed north along the Delaware Riverfront overlooking Philadelphia.  We saw a prison from above which I thought the design was neat.  Not neat enough that I would want to be behind bars though…

prison

We flew over Princeton.  It was so neat to see it from an aerial view.  I thought I might even see some of my friends doing a track workout or something.

princeton

Next, we saw New York from afar.  As you can see, there is a layer of smog there.  For our next flight, we want to fly to either Long Island or somewhere out that direction. For security reasons, you aren’t able to fly too close to New York.

new york city

Where we landed, in Pompton Plains, is a hilly and wooded area.  The runway sort of appeared out of nowhere.  pompton plains flying

Once we landed in Pompton Plains, we headed to the Pompton Queen Diner, which was only a few miles away.  In fact, we ended up walking back from the diner to the airport.  It was a fun little adventure.

pompton plains 1

It was a beautiful walk back to the airport, and I’m glad we did.

nature walk

I enjoy flying and checking out various places. Both my husband and I enjoy flying around and exploring new areas of the tristate area.  I’m not sure where we will go next!

flying

Incase you missed the Flight to Cape May.

Questions for you:

Have you ever flown in a private plane?

Do you have any recommendations of places to fly?

Personal, Uncategorized

Random Thoughts…

Hollie

I had a different post for today and then I got sick and didn’t write it. Oh well, I guess…

So it’s a completely random, thinking out loud post.

On Monday around 6:30 pm, I felt extremely fatigued and tired.  The fatigue came on within 30 minutes and by 7:30, I found myself laying in bed.  I slept through the night until 5:30 am on Tuesday.  I thought I would sleep away my migraine. However, that wasn’t the case, and I felt worse on Tuesday.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I slept for a total of 30 hours.  Today, Thursday, I am feeling better but not great.  No I haven’t run, and I’m okay with that…I’ve pretty much sat on my bed or slept for the last two days.

For obvious reasons, this week I haven’t been running at all, and I’m okay with it.  I planned to take a short break this summer, and it happened to be sooner versus later.  There is no shame in that.

Speaking of running, what are my plans this Summer and Fall?

I’m currently tossing around different ideas of half marathons in the Fall.  I had thought about committing to a full marathon this fall, but I’m not entirely sure I want too.  I’m happy where I currently am and don’t have any complaints.  Half marathons seem to be my “sweet spot” right now. I have plenty of years to try a marathon again…if I even want too…

This summer, I’ll be running local races.  The only major race I’ll be doing is the Boilermaker 15k in Utica on July 10th.  Knock on wood of course, because everytime I sign up for the Boilermaker I get injured.  There are a lot of local 5-10ks around here this summer so I’ll be running those.  Do I think the hot and humid summer will bring PRs?  No, probably not but I’ll enjoy getting out there and racing.

So what else have I been up too in the last two weeks?

As most people have figured out, my Instagram and Twitter have been more of my daily life updates.  Blogging about life is pretty boring for the most part…go for a run…go to work…go to a diner…something along the lines.  One line social media posts are a bit easier for that.

lauren and I

I went to a wedding last weekend down in Maryland.  Despite the rain, the Bride and Groom had a beautiful day. I didn’t let the rain affect my attitude either.

me umbrella rainy day

Finally here are A Few Recent Posts incase you missed them:

Quick Core Ideas for Runners

Track Meet Mile (5:40)

Uncategorized

A Little Bit of This…and That

Hollie

This post is typical of how I feel by Friday, all over the place.  I feel like I blink and days, weeks and months go by…This week has been a doozy, and I’m not sure why it went by so slowly. The weather was finally nice!

This weekend is the base air show.  If anyone local is looking for something to do, it’s open to the public.  There are going to be several flight demonstrations with both fighter planes as well as tanker aircraft.  It should be a lot of fun. It’s open to anyone military or not.

While we will be attending part of the Air Show, my husband and I are making the trek up tomorrow morning to Jersey City to run the Newport 10k.  To be honest, my legs don’t feel that great to race but what can you do.  We are going to have a great time seeing friendly faces like Danielle, Amelia, Ashley and Erica Sara.  The field is fast, and if I can make the top 10 in my age group, I’ll be ecstatic. Is there anyone else going?

I’ve also been cooking a lot more.  LOLZ blog will probably never be a foodie blog, but I’ve been learning to cook more easy and quick recipes.  We are both out of the house a lot, so the last thing either my husband and I want to do is cook when we get home.

Bacon egg quiche
My first attempt at the Mini Bacon Quiche

I recently ordered The Athletes Fix on Velopress and tried my hand at some of the recipes.  My favorite recipe so far has been the bacon tart. It’s quick, healthy and easy.  My husband was also shocked at how good they are.

The Athlete's Fix by Pip Taylor
The Athlete’s Fix by Pip Taylor

The book itself is great for any athlete.  It dissects different diets and food intolerances.  I’m fortunate not to have any food intolerances, but my husband recently discovered he might be lactose intolerant.  It’s an easy read, and there are a lot of runner-friendly recipes.

Posts:

Training Log

4 Surprises I learned from FitBit

Gear to  Stay drier in the Rain

4 Ways to Make Running More Fun

My apologies because this post is all over the place.  If you know me in real life, then you know that is how I operate.  Speaking of random, Happy Friday the 13th.  Hope it’s uneventful for you.

Questions for you:
What are your thoughts with all of the drug allegations?
What are you up to this weekend?