HOORAY!

I don’t care how old I am, I still want to print that out and put it on my refrigerator. I love when hard work pays off and makes all of those long days in the library worth it. Grades aside, I know the most important thing about this past semester is the fact that I feel as prepared as I’m going to be for the hospital portion of the internship. We’re still waiting to hear what hospitals we’ll be doing our clinical rotations at, AND IT’S DRIVING ME INSANE.

Dinner
My friend and old co-worker Jess and I literally planned this dinner date a month ago, when we would both have more free time to catch up. Since Jess is basically a human Zagat Guide (in the best possible way), she picked the restaurant.

Pongal – a vegetarian Indian restaurant – in Curry Hill. I rarely ever have Indian food, but every time I do I remember how delicious it is.

Combination dinner – palak paneer (cottage cheese and creamed spinach-type dish), channa masala (chick peas with tomato and onion), steamed rice, whole wheat flat bread, yogurt dip, dessert rice pudding, rasam soup (spicy tomato and lentil)

As I walked to the restaurant around happy hour time, it hit me that I really wasn’t a part of the whole “corporate world” anymore. I’ve been so involved in school since I quit my job I haven’t really had time to think about it, but I don’t really miss my days in cubeland at all (probably a good thing, since sitting too much may be bad for your health?).

Paper masala dosai, which is a crispy thin crepe-like thing with potato you can stuff in as a filling and a few delicious dips to choose from.

Jess and I went from seeing each other every day for almost four years to not seeing each other for four months, so we had a lot to catch up on. Everything was super delicious, and I even though I want to go back and try more of the 32583297 things on the menu, the company made the night (thanks, JJ!).

Running this weekend
I’m not running the Brooklyn Half like the rest of what seems like every runner in the five boroughs,  but I do plan on getting in a solid last long run on Saturday before next weekend’s race.

The plan: 14 miles with the following pick-ups at half marathon pace mid-way through the run:

• 5 minute pick-up to 8:00/mile
• Rest 3-4 minutes
• 10 minute pick-up to 8:00/mile
• Rest 4-5 minutes
• 5 minute pick-up to 8:00/mile

John (very speedy co-worker/encyclopedia of running knowledge I mentioned earlier this week) said these pick-ups will help me practice half marathon pace and give me a little confidence going into the race. And I could definitely use some of that. So we’ll see how it goes!

Question: Favorite Indian restaurant or dish? Channa masala is my new favorite. Do you ever incorporate speedwork or pick-ups into your long runs? Or do you keep ‘em easy?

new shoes made it a little better: Brooks Ghost 4s. The 5′s just came out, but I got these for an insane deal.

I mentioned my plan – 2 x 2 miles at half marathon pace – to a very speedy co-worker yesterday and he asked me what my rest was in between the miles. “Uhhh, hmmm. I don’t know, a mile?” Was my (wrong) answer. Apparently, time allowed for rest matters a lot more than I thought during speedwork – if I rested too long my legs wouldn’t be fatigued enough for the second set and I wouldn’t really benefit from the workout as much. WHO KNEW?

I guess this goes to show I still have a crapload to learn about running and especially speedwork and racing. My co-worker (we shall call him John) is also going to give me some more speed workouts geared towards improving my 10K, and I’m both excited and petrified to try them.

Anyways, John told me to rest for 1/2 mile in between sets so that’s what I did.

The intervals were miles 3, 4, 6 and 7 above. My goal HMP is about 8:00/mile, so for the most part I was right on the money and actually felt pretty good through the last interval. To top it off, the 2 miles following the intervals involved the insane hills between Riverside Park and Central Park on the West side. So all in all, this workout kicked my butt in every way, gave me a little confidence for next weekend and I loved it.

gem from last weekend’s race, clearly far too concerned with my Garmin and not the fact that I’m blinding those around me by my translucently pale legs.

I’m off to work soon, but have fun dinner plans with an old co-worker whom I dearly miss. This whole “having time for a life” thing is kind of cool.

Question: How many different speed workouts do you do? Favorite ones to prep for a 10K and half marathon?

I went swimming.

Read the giant stack of New York Times that has been accumulating since finals took over my life.

Went to Fairway (and noted that it is filled with an interesting mix of senior citizens, nannies and children at 10:30 a.m. on a Monday)

Baked some more cookies.

Called my mom.

Deep cleaned my apartment.

Read a non-nutrition-related book.

Briefly stalked President Obama with Abbe (he was in da ‘hood)

Had a lovely dinner date with Celia.

Barbeque tempeh sandwich with caramelized onions, sauteed kale and sweet potato with a side of mixed greens from Candle Cafe

Initially, I had grand plans of traipsing around the entire island of Manhattan without a care in the world, taking care of all the errands I needed to get done and being massively productive. But then a voice in my head was all, “NO. Just freaking relax, yo. FOR ONCE JUST CHILL THE EFF OUT,” and I actually listened.

I’m definitely one to use days off to get lots of stuff done, but sometimes it’s just as nice to do pretty much nothing. I’m slowly trying to recognize when things can wait that don’t have to be done OMG IMMEDIATELY, and think it will work wonders for my sanity.

And the running!
Details from last week:

• Monday: rest
• Tuesday: 7.5 miles, 5 @ tempo pace
• Wednesday: 8.75 miles easy
• Thursday: 8 mile easy
• Friday: spin class, lifting
• Saturday: Healthy Kidney 10K race, 2.5 miles w/u, 3.25 miles c/d, total 12 miles
• Sunday: 7.25 miles recovery

Total: 43.5 miles

Friday morning spin classes the day before my long run or a race usually loosen up my legs pretty nicely (plus I love the instructor and the fact that she always plays Call Me Maybe…), but I’m wondering if a rest day before the race would have left me with fresher legs that were more ready to take on the gnarly Harlem hills. Perhaps an experiment for next time?

The plan for this week
I’m planning on ramping up the miles slightly (to around 45-47-ish), including one half marathon pace-specific speed workout and one longish run of 12-14 miles this weekend. Then I’ll attempt to “mini-taper” for the race on May 27.

I should also probably start “training” my liver for some birthday celebrating afterwards, but having no alcohol tolerance does have its benefits (i.e., it’s cheap. and I’m loads of fun after just one beer).

Question: Favorite thing to do on a day off? What do you the day before a race? Cross train? Easy run? Total rest? Do tell…

So I psyched myself up for the Health Kidney 10K and aimed for the attainable goal of breaking 48:00 (my PR is 48:08 from last year’s race). My workouts have been going well, so this was feeling totally doable.

SO EXCITED TO RACE A 10K. NEED A TAN.

Spoiler: it was not. And I strongly dislike 10Ks.

After a quick pre-race snack I headed to the start for my usual 2.5 mile warm-up.

I made sure to run by the elite tent and caught a glimpse of Ryan, Meb and Abdi. Not a stalker at all. And then the race started.

Mile 1: 7:44; mile 2: 7:31; mile 3: 7:17
It was pretty crowded at first (per usual at NYRR races), so I did a lot of bobbing and weaving through mile 1 and it was kind of slow going. But then I got into a nice grove and thought a PR was totally doable.

Mile 4: 7:56
And then came the Harlem hill… I mean, I run this hill at least a few times a week, it’s at the same spot in almost every 10K race I run and for the most part I’ve made peace with it. But yesterday morning it felt like a mountain whose only goal in life was to kill me and I hated it with a burning passion.

Mile 5: 7:36; mile 6: 7:46; mile 0.2: 7:31
It took forever for my legs to come back after hoofing it up the hill, and I don’t think they ever really felt “ok” afterwards. These last miles were painful and I had to work hard to fight off the negative bitch in my head telling me to give up.

My legs felt like they were going in slow motion while in quicksand with 10 lb weights on them as I rounded the southern end of the park to the finish and grimaced at Susan, who was cheering (thanks, lady!).

So not only was there no PR, but I completely sucked at running the tangents and/or did way too much bobbing and weaving (10K does not = 6.32 miles. fail).

I grabbed a bagel and apple and ran around the bridle path back home feeling kind of bummed that I couldn’t have at least pushed through the pain a little harder and wondering if I’m just not meant to be that fast.

After 3.25 miles of dwelling on the way home I got over myself and looked at the positive:

• It was a gorgeous morning and I loved being part of the race
• I wasn’t too far off my PR
• Hopefully this race was a step in the right direction for the half (my goal race) on May 27
• I CAN RUN. PAIN FREE. (<– can’t take that for granted and forget how awesome it is)
• Another free bagel

I ended with 12 miles for the day, and at the very least, got in a good speed workout slash semi-long run. I’m really looking forward to the half in a couple weeks (IT’S FLAT! HOORAY!) and lots of miles this coming week. One thing I will guarantee: revenge will be had on Harlem hill at my next 10K in about a month.

Question: Did you race this weekend? How do you pace yourself for hilly races (really, I think I need help on this one!)?

Happy Mother’s Day to my awesome, fantastic mom and all of the mom’s out there!  

Well, kind of. My last exam of the semester was last night, which marks the end of part 1 of my dietetic internship. I can honestly say it was the hardest 3.5 months I’ve had in a while, but definitely the most rewarding. And if I had attempted to keep my full-time job through the semester, my head would probably be exploded in Washington Square or you would find me in the fetal position over at Bellevue by now.

washington square. no exploded Kelly head, thank God.

So a good decision to quit when I did – too bad my bank account and I do not see eye to eye on this one.

Now, the next step is to take what we’ve learned (so much. please don’t leave my head, MNT knowledge) and apply it to actual people at our hospital rotations. Highly supervised, of course. Rotations don’t start until late July/early August, so I’ve got a bit of a break in which I will attempt to work a lot, visit family and friends and try to relax (relax! can you imagine?).

i went for a walk by the east river yesterday evening and felt naked without my flashcards.

So I’m jazzed to be done, but really anxious to find out what hospital I’ll be at and get started!

in other news
I’ve got a 10K race tomorrow morning and the weather is looking fantastic. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to PR (duh), but am going to try to keep the pressure off, enjoy myself and see how it goes.

Lots of running and studying requires fuel, and I’ve been making my own, “healthified” version of oatmeal cookies a lot lately. I usually make them with applesauce in place of some of the butter, but since my applesauce had some unfortunate mold growing overtop of it the other day, I needed a plan B.

Clearly, I enjoy Greek yogurt. But as a cookie ingredient? Why not. (<– this is me, living on the edge, per usual).

They turned out fantastically delicious. Here’s the recipe:

Oatmeal Coconut Cookies with Dark Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

• 5 tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter
• 1/2 cup 2% plain Chobani (or any) Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups uncooked oats
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350F.  Melt the butter and whisk together with brown sugar and honey (I don’t have a mixer, so you can also beat together until until creamy if you are fancier than I).  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Combine flour, soda, salt and cinnamon and add to egg mixture.  Stir in yogurt and 1/2 cup oats, mix well (truth: I don’t completely measure the yogurt, I just add it in until it seems right). Add coconut and chocolate chips until mixed well and add in the remaining oats. This is kind of hard to mix, so I usually end up using my hands.

Drop spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown (my oven is wonky, so I suggest checking them at 10 minutes).  Let sit on cookie sheet for 1 minute an then cool on wire rack. Enjoy!

more fun things
This website has been floating around Twitter and it’s amazing. Ryan Gosling, perfect man and supporter of runner girls everywhere.

Emilia posted this on Facebook and it’s hilarious – When in New York City. SO TRUE.

Questions: What do you do to relax? I need help. Also, who is your ideal “hey runner girl” guy? Ryan Gosling isn’t bad, but maybe I’d prefer my man DJ or Dr. Avery.

Luckily, I’m convinced that with minor colds like this one, running makes it all better (being fed chicken noodle soup by my mom would also help, but she is many miles away and lord, I’m almost thirty).

Despite this belief, my first instinct was to wuss out on some speedwork yesterday morning and take it easy. Once I got going I felt fine and decided to go for it, and actually got in a semi-decent tempo run.

I’m racing this Saturday so I didn’t want to push too hard; luckily I was pooped after mile 6 anyways. I’m pretty sure each tempo mile helped shake the sick out of me – I felt fine the rest of the day.

This morning I didn’t feel so hot again, but headed out the door with rain threatening to come down at any second. Probably not the smartest idea, but Ali magically appeared as I entered the park and we ran about 3-4 miles together. The rain started pouring down as we parted ways, but just when I was starting to get really soggy and hate life a little, I saw this dude.

hi Meb! remember me? 

Meb’s in town for the race I’m running on Saturday (he’ll probably beat me), and I waved to him and the guy he was with (named Jimmy, we *know* each other in that we both hang out on the bridle path most mornings) as they sped by and they waved back. This means we are totally friends now, right?

lots of dirt: the signs of a successful, rainy run

Running must be magic (well, we already know this, right?), because I feel a bit better again. Probably a good thing, since I have a long day of work and exam #1 to look forward to today.

Question: Do you run while sick? Sometimes? Never? I usually go by the “above the neck” rule – if my symptoms are above the neck, it’s on. But if I have a fever or lots of chest congestion, a day off is probably a better idea.

Anyways, happy Monday!

Let’s talk about running. I capped last week off with 47.25 miles and was pretty pleased with workouts, pace, and how my legs felt.

• Monday: 60 minutes swimming, lifting
• Tuesday: 7.5 mile tempo run
• Wednesday: 9.5 miles easy
• Thursday: 8 miles progression run
• Friday: spin class, lifting
• Saturday: 15 miles
• Sunday: 7.25 miles recovery

After working all day yesterday (hellooo 9 hours on my feet), running more than 22+ miles in 2 days and studying until my eyeballs were about to fall out, I was exhausted and tried to “sleep in” this morning. I made it just shy of 6:15 a.m. and did some easy yoga before devising the studying plan of attack for today (4 more days until the semester is over, and I’m definitely counting).

hopefully I’ll have more time to cook things other than roasted vegetables and a sunny-side-up egg for dinner soon

Since my running has been going pretty well lately (knock on wood), I’m kind of bummed I decided not to run the Buffalo Marathon at the end of May. I still don’t think I’d be ready for it so soon post-injury, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t searched for possible marathons to run in June/July. So far I’ve come up empty (since they would also need to be basically free and in my backyard), but thought I’d share a few races that are on my “Marathon Bucket List.”

Big Sur Marathon

(source)

I think the photo says it all – completely gorgeous course, and it’s supposed to be pretty well-organized and fun.

London Marathon

I love London, and what I’ve heard about this race makes it sound similar to the NYC Marathon in that it seems like a big, 26.2 mile party. I’ve love the chance to run over Tower Bridge, check out the sites with 40,000+ other weirdos runners and maybe meet Prince Harry.

Dublin Marathon

(source)

Dublin is one of my most favorite places – the people are super nice, and I’m sure a post-race Guinness wouldn’t taste half as good anywhere else.

Boston Marathon

This one’s obvious – hopefully it’ll happen before I’m 95 years old.

Question: What races are on your bucket list? Have you run any of these?

Maybe that’s why there were so many people in the park this morning – getting their long runs out of the way before a day of guac, mint juleps, chips and margaritas (<– maybe not all at once)?

I was out the door by about 6:10 a.m. and knew immediately it wouldn’t a repeat of the magical long run of last weekend. My legs were feeling a bit tired but not terrible, so I kept the pace between 8:45 and 9:00 miles for the most part.

15 miles, 2:13;15, 8:53/mile. My Garmin froze when I went to upload my stats (DAMN YOU, GARMIN!)

Overall the run was decent – it was a good reminder that I’m not going to float through every long run effortlessly with a smile on my face. I think you can get just as much confidence from pushing through these tougher runs as from the uber fantastic, floaty runs.

Fueling
The distance I was shooting for is kind of borderline in terms of whether or not I need to bring fuel, but I took a mini water bottle filled with grape Nuun and three PowerBar Energy Blasts just in case.

I’m glad I had the Nuun because it was pretty humid and I sweat like a pig. I didn’t totally feel like I needed fuel, but I ate the energy chews around miles 8, 10 and 13 probably because they were there. I’m not the biggest fan of these (but they were free! thanks, work!) because they are such a bitch to chew when you’re running. I may or may not have resembled a cow while trying to break them down and breathe at the same time – sorry runner folks that had to witness it. I think I’ll stick with gels when these are gone, for sure.

the usual post-run refueling.

It’s hard to believe the first half of my dietetic internship is 5 days (5 DAYS!) from being over. That’s five more days of studying before a little break in between the start of our hospital rotations.

So in honor of Cinco de Mayo, I will pretend there is tequila in my water bottle instead of grape Nuun during another fun-filled afternoon at the library.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Question: Ever tried energy chews? HOW did you chew them during a run? Favorite running fuel (gels, chomps, chews, etc.)? Doing anything for Cinco de Mayo/the Kentucky Derby? I’ll live vicariously.

• Monday: 60 minutes swimming and lifting
• Tuesday: 7.5 mile progression run
• Wednesday: 9 mile easy
• Thursday: 7.5 miles easy
• Friday: spin class and lifting
• Saturday: 14 amazing miles
• Sunday: 7 miles very easy

Total: 45 miles. I was really jazzed with my running last week and felt consistently strong. It seems like something “clicked” after the 4 mile race I ran a few weekends ago and my legs have woken up from their winter hibernation (if that makes any sense at all). Whatever is going on, I hope to keep it up because I’ve got some goal races this month and a PR or two would be pretty sweet.

Also sweet: Nutella.
Did you hear? This week it was reported that the people behind Nutella (a delicious chocolate-hazenut spread, FYI) set aside $3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit from a California woman and mother who claimed the company marketed Nutella to be “healthier than it actually was,” partly by saying it was part of a “healthy, balanced breakfast.”

Don’t get me wrong, I get pretty fired up when food companies falsely claim some foods are “healthy” when overall, they’re really not. It happens all the time and people are quick to believe what they hear. But I also have beef with the fact that the woman behind the lawsuit didn’t think to look at the nutrition facts label on her jar(s) of Nutella.

it’s right there. on every single jar. duh? 

Compared to peanut butter, Nutella has about the same amount of calories, less protein, more saturated fat and more sugar. Obviously, peanut butter would be a better choice nutritionally. But call me crazy, Nutella spread on whole wheat toast with some fruit doesn’t sound like a terrible breakfast to me. And compared to Pop Tarts, Toaster Strudels, sugary cereals, etc. that have a ton of additives and an even less favorable nutrient profile, I’d pick Nutella for my kids in a heartbeat. Especially if they’re super picky and it’s hard to get them to eat anything.

Nutella also makes delicious cookies, remember?

To recap: I am not a Nutella hater, food companies make false claims all the time, people should take more responsibility for what they’re eating/giving their kids to eat.

Question: Do you like Nutella? Thoughts on this news? How often do you feel like something “clicks” and your running is going well? For me, not so often so this is strange territory…

“Uhh, treadmill?”

12 seconds later, I came to my senses, stretched, ate a banana and headed out to the park for a rainy run.

I wore a hat. And rain didn’t get in my eyes. WHY DIDN’T ANYONE EVER TELL ME ABOUT THIS BEFORE?

And it was awesome. I had a tempo run in mind, and something about the rain pouring down made the run easier and actually more fun.

Miles 2-5 were my goal tempo miles, and I was shooting for sub-8:00 pace (8:00/mile is my goal half marathon pace). Success! And I remembered that during rainy runs, once you’re wet, you’re wet. After that it’s kind of fun, like a kid running through puddles.

Thank you rain, for washing my Glycerins.

A story
I’ve lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan since moving to New York more than 5.5 years ago, and have always really liked it. Especially in the last year or so since I’ve gotten to know some of my neighbors, become friends with Charlie the Super Next Door and Fairway opened three blocks away.

It usually doesn’t feel like THE Upper East Side – the one with Ramona Singer, real-life Blair Waldorf’s and Bernie Madoff (although I swear I saw his wife, Ruth, on the uptown 6 last week…) – but now that I also work on the UES I come into contact with a lot more, um, special, inhabitants of the 10021/10028/10128/10065.

I work at a running store, so it’s my job to help people find running shoes. And I love that. I mean, what’s not to like? But I forget sometimes that the nature of the job is also dealing with people of all kinds.

On Sunday night, a woman came into the store wanting running shoes for her new orthotics. I immediately had her pegged as one of those after taking in her Hermes bag and scarf, 7+ carrot diamond(s) and tan from a recent holiday in St. Croix, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes they turn out to be sort of nice.

But then the woman proceeded to throw her orthotics at me, order me around and question my judgement.

NOW. I’m a pretty nice person, but when I’m disrespected like that, I tend to get a little feisty (living in New York will do that to you). I stand up for myself and don’t take that kind of crap from anyone. Granted, I was working and had to technically maintain a professional demeanor, but that’s not what stopped me from throwing a shoe at this woman’s face and telling her where she could shove her brand new orthotics.

What goes around, comes around.

Another gem of advice, courtesy of my mom. I could either let this God awful human being win and get all pissed off and angry, or I could smile (through gritted teeth, yes), kill her with kindness and help her find some damn shoes. Eventually, I’d get mine and she’d get hers. Even though it took a good amount of yoga breathing, I managed to do option 2.

Sometimes I tend to act before thinking in situations like this (i.e., throw shoes at face, pay consequences later), but in the past couple of years I’ve developed a new strategy. I think about how I’ll feel about myself looking back at the situation – good that I acted graciously, stayed positive and treated someone with kindness even though they didn’t deserve it, or not so great because I acted immaturely, lost my cool and probably made the situation worse.

This technique works about 99% of the time, and since dealing with all kinds of people is just a part of life, it’s probably a pretty important strategy to stick to.

Look at that, I’m growing up and I’m not even 30 yet.

Ok, tell me. How do you deal with horrible people (in life, at work, etc.)? Do you like running in the rain?