Friends, lovers, countrymen! This was one of the funnest weekends I’ve had in a long while here in NYC. Nothing out of the ordinary, just some quality activities with the people who make me happiest ❤
Saturday: Costa Rica planning + lazy Saturday + LÉON concert
I woke up bright and early on Saturday. Productive morning of cleaning my apartment, grocery shopping (it’s surreal seeing Trader Joe’s completed deserted at 8am…:) ), organizing life, and paying for things I’ve been procrastinating like my Newport Marathon registration, finally good to go!
Then after lunch, Michelle came over for out final Costa Rica planning session. We booked all of our activities for the trip (bungee jumping, white water rafting, and canyoning!) and divided booking hotels too. My credit card was not a happy camper…but I’m so so excited for this trip! Less than 4 weeks away!
After a few hours of quality time in front of our screens, we decided to break up the day and take a walk, one of our favorite activities. It was treat to catch up on life happenings with while getting some fresh air ❤
Then, we returned to the apartment and plopped ourselves right back in front of the couch, eating Thai food for dinner, being chatterboxes with my roommates who stopped by, and marathoning through Broad City (one of our favorite shows – hilarious. I like to think me and Michelle are a lot like Abbi and Ilana) 😉 Sometimes the simplest activities can bring so much joy.
Then, it was time to part ways. I had a concert to go to and Michelle had work early the next morning.
Earlier in the week, I found out one of my favorite new artists, LÉON, was in town this weekend! I was SO excited. She’s a Swedish singer, and has a beautiful, deepish voice with a soul-pop vibe. I had to see her, but tickets were sold out. Luckily, I was able to find someone selling a ticket, and decided to watch solo (this blog knows I love going to concerts alone. You can just kick back and enjoy the music and do whatever you want 🙂 )
All I can say is: wow, wow, and WOW. LÉON was absolutely spectacular. Can someone actually sound better live than in a recording? She was so sweet to the crowd, and I loved her entire set from beginning to end.
The concert was at Bowery Ballroom in LES. It was my first time at the venue, but it was the perfect size – and I got a great view front and center!
After the concert, I treated myself to Van Leeuwen ice cream for my walk home, because why not? 😉
Sunday: long run + Super Bowl party
Slept in Sunday morning, thank goodness. My body really needed to catch up on sleep from lots of early mornings the past two weeks.
The day FLEW by. I basically spent the morning waking myself up and prepping for a long run. Do others also take FOREVER to prep for a long run? Between making the perfect playlist, fueling, hydrating, choosing an outfit for the weather, making sure electronics are good to go, making sure hair is tied up well, applying chaffing creme/sunscreen/chap stick, tying shoes perfectly, mapping out a route, packing the fuel belt…long runs are quite the event. Not to mention the 2-5 hours of actual running and transportation!
13 miles from my apartment to Central Park + east river. I weirdly felt a reverse running high. Usually my first 5-6 miles are for warming up when I feel meh, and then afterwards I get a good running high. But this time, I felt GREAT the first 6 miles, and then had tired legs/heart for the remaining. In any case, it was a milestone to reach the half marathon mark at week 5!
Even longer than long run prep is long run RECOVERY. Shower, stretch, roll, food, nap…sometimes it feels like the whole day is spent on the long run. But we love it, don’t we? 😉
My go-to meal after a long run is 1) oatmeal with soymilk + chia seeds + peanut butter + banana 2) scrambled eggs with red pepper humus and 3) a protein shake!
After waking up from my nap, Trish texted me about a last minute super bowl party one of our friends was having. I originally wasn’t going to do anything for the super bowl, but hadn’t seen this my old roommates in a while and thought why not! Trish picked me up and we headed to the Financial District for a night of tons of junk food and a very intense game. I’m not the biggest fan of football, but I so enjoyed this game!!
Week 5 of Marathon Training
Monday: 4 mi treadmill (9:51 pace) -> 1 mile warm up + .5 miles at 1%, 2%, 3% with .5 mi recovery. Felt strong and steady!
Tuesday: 4 miles treadmill (9:55 pace). Played around with speed and incline to make the time pass since my legs were pretty tired from yesterday
Wednesday: 15-minute core workout (THIS video)
Thursday: 6 miles treadmill. Most of the run was music-less as my phone died!
Friday: mini-pilates session in the morning. I did THIS, THIS and THIS. The third one is one of my favorite core workouts, and only takes 5 minutes
Saturday: REST
Sunday: 13 miles. My Garmin died half way so don’t know my pace, but I know I hit the 13 mile mark. Reverse running high.
Total: 27 miles!
I Run Like A Girl 