Winter, especially in the city, can be rough. I feel like everyone goes through a time of hibernation where they wish away the early sunsets, the cold weather, and the wind chill which makes the cold weather, well, colder. After Costa Rica, I oddly found myself wanting to continue my “being alone all the time” thing, and think winter played a part in that, too. I mean…I see and interact with people allll the time during the week, but come the weekends I focused on sleep, running, writing, running, more sleep, resting, running, and making coconut macaroons.

But finally, I’m over it. It’s March. And I missed my friends. And enjoyed a near perfect weekend. 

I went out in K-town with my best friend Danielle, her newwww (!) boyfriend, + crew. We drank watermelon soju, which is a hallowed out watermelon filled with alcohol. We ate budae jjigae, which is a casserole filled with EVERYTHING (noodles, vegetables, spam (?), hotdogs, tofu, cheese). Great food, wonderful company. 

I slept till 10 on saturday (!!!) went to a yoga class (so many hamstring stretches and hip openers…glorious) and went to Atlas Cafe for black bean soup, poem writing, and coffee drinking.

I took a nap.

I cooked dinner with Melissa, Nic, and Alana, followed by the Brooklyn Museum to check out the new Gravity and Grace exhibit. The artist is from Ghana (love) and uses aluminum and copper wire to build incredible pieces that fall somewhere in between the realm of sculpture and painting. There was also an amazing Nigerian band playing, so we listened and danced for a while before grabbing a final drink at Union Hall.

I tipped a cab driver way too much because I never take cabs but needed to get home and he was from Bangladesh and told me his life story and we talked about the differences between Bangladesh and India and Pakistan and he was so wonderful and damnit bills just fly when I have three drinks and apparently get drunk.

….aaand Sunday I woke up feeling crappy. I met Jocelyn at the track for an “18ish miler.” We ended up going sans data (!!!) and running all around the city while catching up on life. I went for an extra stretch along the East River Path, lost Jocelyn, almost froze to death, and then re-found her at PIE, a glorious GF pizza place in Greenwich Village. Meggie also joined, and we defrosted and ate lots of food.

I napped again. Did laundry. Ate lentils. Hung out with Frankie the dog while eatin cookies.

And with that,  I’m officially in love with this weekend.

Last week, I think I’ve spent more time in my bed than I have…ever… from being a bit sick/totally wiped out. Rather than freaking out and/or applying for a body transplant (though it was tempting), I decided to write about other places I’ve slept.  Seemed sort of fitting.

Rocky Mountain National Park. Estes Park, Colorado

 Nicole and I found a cozy spot to pitch our tent on our first camping road trip stop. It felt like we had the whole park to ourselves, and one of the best views on the planet.

Warehouse/Stage. Bumble-Fuck, Colorado

I forget the name of the town, but after performing one night with Big Tree at a really weird venue in Colorado, we were able to crash in the same room the show was held. (Along with a couple of Native Americans). All I remember is curling up on this couch and watching Life Aquatic with a whiskey. 

El Capitan Hostel. Montezuma, Costa Rica

Out of all the places I stayed in Costa Rica (six in nine days!) this was probably my worst decision. It was just plain gross— I also unwillingly shared the room with a spider and a mouse. 

Little Hut. Ada Foah, Ghana

This. Place. Ada Foah is a town that lies between the ocean coast and the volta river. I specifically remember my “roommate” waking me up in the middle of the night to walk outside our hut and look at the stars while listening to the sounds of the ocean and river hitting the shore just south and north of us.

Happy Oasis Farm. Prescott, Arizona

Nicole and I WWOOF‘d at this “farm” on our road trip, and it was an innnteresting experience to say the least. The house was strictly raw/vegan, and there was really nothing to farm, so we spent a few days bleaching a pool and drinking celery smoothies. 

Half a Basement. College Park, Maryland

Before I could find a place in D.C., I “lived” in Danielle’s college house’s basement. This is a view from my bed. Not too shabby, eh?

Hood to Coast Van. Somewhere, Oregon

I’m not sure if I actually ever slept during HTC, but I do remember shutting my eyes at some point. I specifically recall finishing my 7 mile night run, stretching out on the bench with a huge ziplock of trail mix on my stomach, and eating the M&M’s until I fell asleep…

Tent On a Deck. Fire Island, NY

A summer tradition, a bunch of us went out to Fire Island for a beach getaway. One night, so many people piled in the house couldn’t fit us all. So Nicole brought a tent and we pitched it on the deck. It worked.

Mansion. Taos, New Mexico

This is probably the most beautiful house I’ve ever been in, in the coolest town I’ve ever been through. There’s not much else I can say about that.

This week was all about the dreaded “R” word — rest.

When someone tells me I should take it easy, I usually glare at them, lie and say I’ll think about it, and then go back to whatever I was doing. (Stubborn, much?) But then, when my body tells me it needs rest…I can’t fight back. Mid-week, I caught a bad cold — nothing serious — but I felt so incredibly exhausted I fell asleep at 7pm every night. (I’m going to be such a good old person.)

So here’s the short training recap:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 4 miles, core work

Wednesday: 45min lift, 4 miles, start feeling like death

Thursday Friday Saturday: REST (and grumble a lot, sleep a shit ton, miss running and get all melodramatic in my bed while drinking way too much cough medicine and probably not enough water).

Sunday: 15 miles, 8:30 pace. I woke up at 6:30 this morning (this is what happens when you fall asleep at 6:30pm…) and literally could not spend another moment in bed. I made coffee and told myself I’d “evaluate” how I was feeling, and if I felt OK, would go out and run slowly and comfortably until I didn’t feel good anymore. No pace, no set milage…just a fun run as a “reward” for being “good” and not running for the past three days.

I ended up going for 15, glorious, happy and loving miles. It’s funny how just a few days off can make you miss the sport so much, and appreciate how good it feels to start up again. I did not feel awesome by any means, and there were points where I contemplated stopping. But once I got to Central Park, I turned off my music and ran/cheered alongside the pack of runners doing the NYCRUNS half/full marathon. I listened to the birds (SPRING!) and didn’t deal with snow or ice or cold wind or anything that reminds me of evil winter. I finished by doing a loop of the reservoir — at that point I could tell my body felt a bit weak/off — and stopped.

With that,  I think I’m slowly beginning to realize the marathon plan I’m following is very challenging for me. If I didn’t have any other obligations — career, social life, “me” time, cleaning my apartment (?!) — then I would be able to stick to it to a T. I’ve never been a stick-to-a-plan type person, so when I began following this I felt I needed to do everything or else my goal for Eugene was out of reach. Now, I know this is stupid, and even Jason told me the plan is flexible. So I’m learning what workouts and types of mileage and amounts of strength training I should be doing, but I’m also learning what works for me. And most importantly, how I can combine these two things.

Basically, I think I need to run a little less, and do yoga and lift a little more. A better balance of all these things makes me happy, and when I’m happy, I run better. That’s all it really comes down to.

In other news, I suck at “tracking” but joined both MyFitnessPal (because I’m bad at knowing how much I need to eat when training) and dailymile (because I want to join another awesome running community). So LET’S BE FRIENDS! I love friends. And lastly, thank you all so so much for your amazing response to my post on comparison & perfection. I had no idea it would receive the response it has, and am glad so many people could relate.

All of the love, and hey — here’s some pictures of a cute dog since I just wrote way too much. (And follow her on Instagram, she has more followers than me…)

about me:

1. Ziggy Palffy was my first crush. I even named my hermit crab after him.

2. I tried every sport growing up. I even took tennis lessons and went to golf camp. I regularly played basketball and soccer from my toddler years till High School.

3. I was petrified of thunderstorms and getting kidnapped as a kid. This led to a lot of sleepovers on my parents’ floor (sorry about that).

4. My lucky number is 249. Not sure why.

5. I write righty but do most other things lefty.

6. When I need to clock out completely, I arrange music on Finale. It’s my secret hobby that lets me use a different part of my brain for a few hours.

7. I know how to taiko drum. (Sup liberal arts colllleeege!)

8. My dream is to travel around the world and write a book about people’s morning routines. And I will do it one day.

9. The joints in my ring and pinky finger are messed up – I can’t move one without the other.

10. Many moons ago, I sang at a church service in the Vatican. 

11. I don’t have a burning desire to travel in Europe. 

12. I’ve (seriously) dated five guys in my lifetime, and four of them played the trumpet (like me). Note to self? Stop dating trumpet players.  

13. I flew to San Francisco to meet four strangers/band members, and toured and performed with them across the country for four months.

14. I don’t really like watching movies and I sometimes skip paragraphs when reading novels.

15. I know how to speak Twi better than Spanish.

16. Hockey is my favorite sport to watch on television. Followed by basketball.

17. I am not allergic to a single thing. Got pricked with 80,000 different types of dust/dirt/foods/grass to prove it.

18. I have exercise induced asthma which can make running in extreme temperatures or dry spaces very difficult. (“Breathtaking,” if you will.)

19. I really wish I could paint and be better at photography. And maybe pilates. Basically want to get better at things that start with “p.”

20. Core work is my biggest struggle. I hate the burn. And I hate abs.

21. I have a fake tooth. (One of the canines!)

22. Winter used to be my favorite season until this year.

23. I’ve been running since I was 14 but have only felt my body/mind change after lifting and doing yoga more regularly as of 2011.

24. I hate even and repeating numbers. (# 22 is the worst.)

25. I used to hate water and never drank it during HS track/xc country. I think I was perpetually dehydrated.

26. I can’t swim well. 

27. My first real-person job out of college was at the Smithsonian African Art Museum.

28. I spend probably 80 percent of my day listening to music. Sometimes I think this is a bad habit.

29. I dislike text message conversations. I’d rather just talk to the person on the phone.

30. I can picture myself having kids way more than I can being married.

31.  If I could eat steak and carrot cake every night  for dinner and dessert, I would. 

Truth be told, I love reading blogs. I love seeing what other people are up to and getting a peek into their lives. I also enjoy just talking to people (IRL, oh my) and hearing how they’re feeling, how they’re livin — you know, seeing how the other 99.999etc% lives.

That said, this also runs anyone at risk for the comparison game. Man, so-no-so ran 8 miles this morning, made a delicious veggie omelette, tweeted really fascinating articles all day while at work, also went to a workout class at night, roasted the shit out of that chicken and brussel sprouts dinner, aaand had time to blog about it — all with a smile on his/her face.

Damnit.

Whether or not this is actually what went down in real life (that’s the tricky thing about blogging, you can disclose how little or much information as you want to) is what can lead to comparison. Sometimes I find myself eating a dinner of scrambled eggs and a veggie burger at 10pm (mealofchampions) and finishing off an $8 bottle of Cabernet opened up a week ago (yikes) and wondering why I’m exhausted from a 5 mile run that happened nearly 15 hours earlier. Any why I don’t have the energy to write, or maybe even foam roll, or come up with something a little more exciting to eat than what’s in front of me.

Which is why you have to step back. Your health and happiness is the most personal thing in the world because well…it’s your self. For those go-getters who can pack in a ton in the day, stick to a challenging training cycle, work, cook, and capture their life online, that’s awesome. And inspiring. But that doesn’t mean you are lacking something if you don’t follow suit.

Training for this marathon is one of the most rewarding, yet exhausting things I’ve done. And while I catch myself saying “the mileage isn’t even that crazy compared to other people’s” I need to stop myself. 40ish miles a week is a lot…for me. Waking up at 6am to work out and then working till nearly 8pm (give or take) a night is also a lot. If I can cook for myself three times a week, I call that an accomplishment. If I can avoid finishing a bag of tortilla chips in two days as an after dinner “shit-im-marathon-training-and-my-appetite-is-insatiable,” then cuuuuue the fireworks.

And regardless of what other people are doing, you can still do “everything right” and not feel your best. You can floss three times a day and get a cavity. Eat super healthy and not have six-pack abs. Work out five days a week and have your energy levels drop, not rise. Take Vitamin D, meditate, drink eight classes of water a day, smile more, down-dog, drink kale and ginger juice, and volunteer once a week, and still feel like crap every now and then.

And that’s because “perfection” in and of itself is never attainable. But knowing that being and feeling imperfect is okay, and figuring out what life you can lead to feel your happiest and healthiest while recognizing that every day isn’t going to be great — then, in my mind, that’s just about perfect.

Hello. A few cool things have been happening in my world, orrr I’ve just been thinking about some stuff. And I want to write about it! 

I’m running another relay with Nuun. 
Everyone from HTC was so thoughtfully invited to run a Ragnar with Nuun (the official hydration sponsor!)/ We could pick race location preferences, which was really tough. I would have 100 percent picked Zion, but it is the same weekend as Eugene. I almost put down Lake Tahoe as my first choice, but realized my plane ticket budget would kill me (and…deplete). So I went with Ragnar Adirondacks, which I cannot be more excited for. It’s happening in September, so it will be nothing but gorgeous up there in the fall. Plus, some really wonderful people are doing adks too…hellloo Steph, Molly, Corey,  Elizabeth, and Lauren (who else?!). (: I can’t freakin wait. 

I inherited a new job title.
One of the most wonderful things about working for a startup, and Greatist specifically, is the unending room for growth. Unlike other, more traditional work places where you can move up from one “set” position to the next, we’re encouraged to evolve and grow into a position that we can ultimately become the best at. I started off as a part-time staff writer, then moved to staff writer and outreach director. Now, I’m “officially” the Growth Director, meaning I’ll do whatever it takes to increase both traffic and brand awareness. I feel super lucky, confident, and excited for everything that’s to come. I have a lot to learn, too, which makes it that much more thrilling.

New twitter bio, new you — excited for a new job role @greatist to help push this thing to crazy heights 🙂 #imagreatist

— Laura Schwecherl (@lschwech) February 12, 2013

Nicole and I are hiking the AT this summer.
We’re striking again. Thinking about our next adventure, Nicole was inspired by Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, a hilarious, informative, and interesting story about Bryson’s experience hiking the Appalachian Trail. This will be my first time truly backpacking — as in, carrying our tent and all other belongings — and spending three days out on the trail. The whole hike stretches from Georgia to Maine, but we’ll probably stick to a route right along Jersey and New York. And smell a lot of trees.

I need to sleep more. Way more.
While waking up early is usually not a problem for me, it usually hits me around 2pm that I’ve been up since 6am. My problem is I cannot, for the life of me, fall asleep early. By the time I get home, I want to cram in other hobbies and end up staying up past midnight. Case and point? I recently became obsessed with this Beiruit song (I go through phrases where I listen to a band over..and over..and over..) and stayed up till 1am learning how to play the ukulele part. Other nights I just browse the interwebs for hours on end. No bueno. I’ve been feeling how the lack of sleep is affecting me in other ways, so I’m going to try so, so hard to turn off the computer and phone by 10pm every night, and then hop in bed with a book. I’ll report back.

 I miss yoga.
I haven’t been practicing yoga that much in the last few weeks, and I really feel a difference both physically and mentally. My hips, hamstrings, and head are way not happy with me, so I’m going to try my best to get back at it once a week. I am also secretly-not-so-secretly itching to go back to it multiple days a week once training for Eugene is over. Namaaaaste.

42 miles in one week is tiring.

For some runners I know this isn’t an incredible load, but I’ve never been an endurance junky. And getting close to 50 miles/week of running was a challenge, especially since I’m getting roughly six hours of sleep a night (no bueno) and I ate my weight in chocolate this week. Haaaappy Valentine’s Day.

Still, I hit every workout and for the most part felt good. And no falling on ice! Win!

Monday: optional rest or yoga.
I chose rest. I really, really, really miss yoga, but my inner left heel was oddly hurting me and I didn’t want to put any unneeded pressure on it. It still hurts when I step on it in a funky way, so I’m just icing, rolling, and keeping an eye on it. Eek.

Tuesday: 5 miles, core
Honestly I don’t remember this run. It was probably fine. However I do remember going to a Mumford and Sons concert that night as a surprise for Jordan, since her BF Colin was away for Valentine’s Day. I was the substitute Valentine. It was awesome. And she was so excited!

Wednesday: 5 miles, 6 x strides, kettlebell workout
This run was pretty good, though I instagrammed my frustrations when I noticed how crazy my splits were. The roads and bridge were still pretty icy and I literally had to force myself into a jog pace to avoid cracking my head open. Saaafety first? I’m finding though, that my favorite parts of my runs are when I start and finish at the track — it’s pretty empty in the morning, especially since it’s still very chilly out there. It feels so peaceful having the whole track to myself while I sprint around in circles. Even when training for a marathon, shorter distances will always be my true love.

Later that evening, Greatist headed to the UES for a KettleX class with Lorna Kleidman, three-time world kettlebell champion (nbd). I haven’t really lifted in awhile, so the pretty intense strength work was a wakeup call. We did a bunch of kettlebell exercises, from presses to swings to figure eights to rows. My shoulders are still slightly killing me. (ps, check out my greatist friends…so strong!)

photo: ms. jordan shakeshaft

Thursday: 8 miles 6 x 200
These eight miles went surprisingly well, given that I thought I’d be pretty tired after a full day of workouts. I ran over to the east river, and at one point noticed a pack of three runners in front of me. I have this bad habit of automatically trying to “reel people in” — a tactic I learned in high school cross country — and after passing them and turning around, saw I clocked in mile four at 7min/pace. Yikes. I slowed back down over the bridge (naturally, damn hill) and headed to the track for some more peaceful and awesome speedwork. 

Friday: 5 miles, core
This run was the BEST because my lovely friend and co-worker LC came with me! We took a break around 2pm and ran over on the west side highway. As I’m sure every NYC runner knows, Friday was also around 50 degrees, which meant shorts weather and the first signs of spring. It was so lovely.

Saturday: 16 miles
Oh long run. Despite my legs feeling good this week, my body in general felt pretty exhausted from lack of sleep. I managed to get to bed around 10pm on Friday night and was up by 8am — but still felt super tired. The first eight miles were a huge, mental struggle. I pretty much was a head case and convinced myself I was going to stop after every mile. However, once I hit that halfway point, I took in some kCals and felt a bit better. The last eight miles felt way better than the first, which is what makes long runs so interesting: There’s so much time for mixed emotions, so much time to feel shitty then great then shitty again. Long story not so short, I got through it, and just need to keep reminding myself that these weekly long runs will only make me stronger and more comfortable with higher mileage.

Sunday: 3 miles recovery
This was a windy nightmare. The run itself was fine but I was literally running against freezing gusts. Thank goodness it was short.

And now I take a nap (:

Last year I wrote a post to go up on Valentine’s Day and never published it. Actually, I write about 10,234 things a day and don’t hit publish for various reasons. But I want to address the holiday, even if it’s a day late, and so I decided to combine my thoughts from last year with this year — an interesting experiment? (The italic text is from last year’s take on VDay.)

Exactly one year ago, I woke up from a night of heavy champagne and tequila drinking and barely made it through the day at work. I went out with two of my other single girlfriends, Nicole and Flo, and our “totally not bitter ” selves decided lots of toasting to singlehood would make our Valentine’s Day better than anyone else’s.

I have an apartment filled with lovely lady friends awaiting me (not to mention a couple bottles of champagne) and we’ll celebrate. Valentine’s Day is about love, not only romance or relationships. Just…love.

I think a big reason a lot of people hate Valentine’s Day is because they’re single. Or had a bad experience in the land of love. Of course it’s hard to admit this — myself included — but why else would you be so vehemently against a holiday that celebrates something as lovely as love? Sure, people in relationships/marriages also have free range to dislike the holiday, and many do. But for a worldthat obscurely celebrates a bunch holidays no sweat— like eating a ton of food before Lent begins (Mardi Gras) or drinking green colored beer to celebrate the death of a Saint (St. Patrick’s Day) or even eating cake on the day you worn born (you don’t even remember your day of birth…) why is it to crazy to enjoy a day where you celebrate love with… love? (Ok, and chocolate and flowers and stuff.) 

I feel like people are either real haters of February 14th, or totalllly dig it. And it’s not just those in good relationships who enjoy today, and the singles out there who despise it. I know a lot of couples that are all “screw it, everyday is valentine’s day” (aww), and single folk that just don’t care to care.

I guess I fall somewhere in the middle. Beyond the commercialism bullshit and the whole “don’t just celebrate your partner on the 14th!” I think it’s fair to say that Valentine’s Day is really nice. Having the excuse to lay in bed with a box of chocolates,  go out to some 10-meal prix-fix extraordinaire, order in chinese food to enjoy with bottle of champagne, or just have copious amounts of sex (sorry not sorry) is…awesome.

This still holds true for me. In fact, I think I am actually moving on to the non-haters side of Valentine’s Day. Rather, I think it’s kind of lovely — I smile when I see all the men holding roses on the subway, when couples are hand in hand looking so damn happy, and when all the restaurants have prix fix menus displayed outside. It’s adorable. It’s nice. And one day I’ll be going to one of those prix fix dinners and will probably be really happy about it. Especially if there’s tequila.

So yeah, Valentine’s Day can kind of suck if you’re single. But only if you let it.  When it comes to dating, I’ve have my fair share of breaking and broken hearts and complete and utter bliss. I’ve come out of solid, amazing relationships left with questions, anger, and a lingering sadness that can still sting. But hasn’t everyone? I’ve also tried my best to remember the unique, beautiful moments and be thankful. I haven’t regretted a single relationship because at the time it was right— it had to be— and I was happy. And from every relationship, I’ve grown. I’ve figured out what I want, what I need, what I can’t stand, and what I should stay far, far away from. Dating is a learning experience, and, well, I’ve learned quite a lot.

So with that, Happy Valentine’s Day (a day late…) from my 2012 and 2013 self. May you love yourself and those around you, and may you fully recover from all that sugar you downed yesterday. Myself included.

The awesome folks at Believe I Am sent me some swag after participating in #sistersinsport. (Check out the notecards, tats, and comfy sweatshirt!) I obviously loved everything, but the notecards were especially meaningful.

For obvious reasons. I love writing letters, the design of the cards is beautiful, and the same awesome mental cues and inspiration I read in my journal are printed on the back of them. And…. one has a TREE on it. So in love.

As much as I wanted to frame them (or duct tape them to my wall…) I thought it would be fun to send these four cards away. So, here’s the dealio. Email me (lschwecherl [at] gmail.com) what you think the meaning of life is. That’s it. The first four people who do so will get a card! (And I promise to write what the real meaning of life is, why I love you, all my other life secrets, and more. You’re welcome.)

Oh, and include your address.

And that’s it.

They’re standin on this table and are ready to get written in!

….aka shoot me in the shin. Just kidding, kind of.

This week was a major uphill battle for me. I think part of it was having such an easy adjustment back to New York after Costa Rica. I hopped right back into training and felt great, cruised right along at work and stayed super busy, and didn’t feel a tinge of sadness that I was no longer hanging out in a hammock devouring a book.

This week I was tired and a little overwhelmed. And it’s hard to get yourself out of a negative mindset once you step foot inside — one bad run turned to another bad run, to another and another…Luckily, I read this awesome post by Lauren titled The Uphill Climb, where I was reminded that marathon training isn’t always easy (oh…right) and that even in the beginning when the mileage isn’t crazy hard, training can be a challenge. 

And she’s right.

Monday: Optional rest or yoga
I was so happy to hop back on the yoga train, and this class felt great. I honestly can’t stress enough how much yoga has helped me as a runner; it has saved my hamstrings and my hips, and I’m way more flexible than I used to be. It also helps with the mental parts of running as I try to stay all #zen during my long runs.

Tuesday: 5 miles, core 
I busted this out on the treadmill. I try to stay off machines as much as possible, but I also know when I need to skip the 6am alarm clock and save my workout for the gym later in the day. I’m just counting down the days to when it’s light and warm enough out to run at night. Is daylight savings time tomorrow? 

Wednesday: 1 mile, failed run
This is when everything fell apart. I was running in the morning and noticed it was a bit icy. I literally told myself “wouldn’t that suck if I slipped and fell?” and about a block later… I did. I cut up my chin, knee, hip, ankle, and wrists, and also somehow managed to land in dog shit. (I wish I was kidding.) I walked the mile home and almost froze seeing as I hadn’t really warmed up yet, and realized I was getting weird stares because there was blood all over my face. Sexy. I spent an hour waiting for my knee and chin to stop bleeding (they finally did) and for my throbbing shoulder to swell up (it thankfully didn’t). I’m still a bit sore, but I was more so shaken up from losing complete control over myself. To top it off, later that day an ATM ate my twenty dollars and I managed to flush my favorite ring down the toilet. I hate you, Wednesday. 

Thursday: 8 miles, 6 x 100
This was supposed to be my redemption run, and it was everything but. I ran to Queens and felt good for the first four miles, but then something clicked and I just felt exhausted. I stopped after six miles and sat myself on the side of the road, on the verge of breaking down. After a minute I got my act together and made it to the track. I was supposed to do 300’s, but my head wasn’t in it, so I did quick sprints instead.

Friday: 5 miles, strength
This was another go at the treadmill. I was contemplating doing my weekend long run on the tred because of Nemo, so I wanted to get “used” to running on the machine. Weeelp, considering I barely got through those five miles, I knew it’d be near impossible to every stay on it for much more than an hour. Kudos to those friends of mine I see busting out 20-miles on the treadmill. That takes willpower.

Saturday: Rest
My plan prescribed three miles, strides, and some strength, but I knew my body needed rest. Also, there was that whole blizzard thing happening. And..I was out till 3am the night before being all young and in my twenties. 

Sunday: 17 miles
Holy shit this run. I stayed in the night before (marathon sacrifices…) but had a lovely evening with a crossword puzzle, wine, and my little old notebook. I got up at 9am but it took me till nearly 11 to get out the door. I had no idea what the road conditions were like, and decided I would make it to Central Park as fast as I could since I heard the paths were clear.

The first half of this run was seriously a joke. Brooklyn did this evil thing where every other block was shoveled, so I felt like I was doing an insane fartlek of “20 seconds fast, 20 seconds…walk.” There was ice everywhere, and now since I’m a paranoid fool, I kept my head down and stopped every time I saw a little piece of slush. I was doing my normal route from BK to Queens, Queens to Central Park, but decided to take a different street in Long Island City that looked a bit more clear. Long story short, I got incredibly lost and I have no idea how, and took a 3-mile detour to find the Queensborough Bridge. Once I got there, I was greeted with a huge sheet of ice. Nightmare. I pretty much walked the whole bridge (about a mile, I think?) and by the time I made it to Central Park, I considered just calling it a day. Then, I realized how stupid that was, giving I just spent well over an hour trying to get to Manhattan in one piece, and now I had clear pavement to run on and a pretty park to stare at! I gave the run another go,  and ended up finishing on a positive note (about  damn time). I was supposed to do 16 miles, but I reset my Garmin twice (once on accident, once on purpose) and apparently 5 miles + 4 miles + 8 miles = 17, not 16. Math is hard.

And now I’m going to lay in pigeon pose for the rest of the day to try to save my hips while wearing the 2012 NYC Marathon shirt I apparently paid $250 for..

Heeeere’s to getting through the week in one piece!