New Bedford

New Bedford

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Power Naps

July 31th: 6am wakeup. 6:10am wakeup for an easy morning run. 4 miles (31:19). Goupil said he was gonna run with me. Didn't happen. Saw him in the last mile of my run. Fist pounded like a boss. Back to the apartment to rush around to get to work by 7:30am. Burrito mix (brown rice, black beans, salsa, avocado, chili powder, cumen, cayenne powder, mozzarella cheese). No tortilla. Busy day at work with lots of emails sent to a bunch of different people.

Home by 4:30pm. Another day of relaxation before the 2nd run. I wasn't planning on napping, but it happened again. Not sure when I fell asleep, but I woke up 6:45pm groggy. Worked out well because I came crawling out of my room thinking I was running on my own. Goupil sitting on the futon ready to lace up the trainers. Sweet.

Easy 6++ miles (44:49). Relaxed run with Goupil. Strides in the parking lot. I was complaining that they were too short of a distance so mine were half-ass. Inside to foam roll, stretch and start up our mini-routine for strength trainings. 3x10 pushups, 3x10 situps, and 3x5 pull-ups.

Heated up my other serving of burrito mix for dinner. Made some fruit punch Gatorade. Showered and ate dinner in front of the boob tube for some Olympics. Bed by 10pm.

10.5 miles on the day. Both easy and relaxed. Quality eating and a necessary power nap. Heavy workout tomorrow on the track. Woohoo!

And So It Begins

July 30th: 5:55am wakeup. Out the door for a morning run on my own by 6:10am. 3+ miles (24:29). Nice and easy. Back to stretch, shower, eat some Honey Nut Cherrios for breakfast, and make my lunch. Work 7:30am-4pm. Normal day at work. Flew right by for a Monday. Peanut butter and nutella sandwich for lunch.

Home by 4:30pm. Chilled for a bit. Napped from 5:40pm-7pm. I even set an alarm (timer for 20 minutes) to try to just get a mini power nap in before the afternoon run. Nope. Turned it off and continued to sleep.

Changed up for a little tempo run. 7.1 mile loop (40:56). No mile splits, but I did split a couple different points. First 2 miles was 6:05 pace, next 2.2 was 5:46 pace, next 1.8 miles was 5:26 pace, and finished relaxed the last mile or so in 5:33 pace. Felt smooth and relaxed.

Back to stretch, foam roll, protein shake and heat up my burrito mix for dinner. Made yet another leftover burrito that tasted just as good as the first one a couple days ago. Showered up and watched some television before bed at a decent hour.

10 miles on the day. Solid official start to the marathon training.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sundae (I Wish)

July 29th: 10am wakeup. Chilled for a bit at my co-workers house. Ate a bowl of Cocoa Krispies. Headed out back to Clifton Park to relax and eat more food (lots of nutella on Ritz crackers and a banana). Not much going on during the day other than researching more on cars and other things on the iPad.

Run at 6pm. 13 miles (92:47). Solid run. Another semi-adventure run. I had somewhat of a planned route that got messed up quickly. Still was able to explore a bit and run on some new roads.

Back to stretch, foam roll and have left over burrito with the works. Limeade to wash it all done. Watched some Olympics on television and bed early for the first official day of the marathon training. 11 weeks to go. Get pumped!

Much Needed Cleaning Before Chillaxing

July 28th: 8am wakeup to the alarm. Dozed on and off until 8:45am. Out of bed to get ready for a morning run. Decided to get the longer run out of the way on the double day. 11 mile (76:15) semi-adventure run on my own. Made the mistake of wearing a black shirt with the sun beating down on me the whole way. Survived.

Back to stretch, foam roll and a protein shake. Been using my fudge from my 4th of July road race for my protein shake. Steps up the taste of the shake, to the max! Showered up and hung out at the apartment to relax before attacking the day. Started by washing a bunch of dishes that allowed me to eat a bowl of Honey Nut Cherrios for breakfast (there were no clean bowls or silverware). The next few hours was organzing my room (laundry), organizing and rinsing out the recyclables, collecting the garbages, and updating my blog because I've been behind.

Hit up the transfer station to drop off the two reusable grocery bags full of recyclables. Stopped off at an auto repair shop to ask about state inspections for NY. Closed. Hmm. Swung by the laundromat to do a couple loads of laundry. Washed the bathroom rugs because something was growing on one of them. I thought it was a good choice to try to minimize the science projects in the apartment. We get enough of those between the fridge and underneath my toenails.

Back to the apartment to talk with my sister and her boyfriend Bob about my car situation. Receiving valuable advice and expert tips on researching the right car and the appropiate prices. Did some major surfing on Kelly Blue Book and Consumer Reports. Discussed with my mom and dad about the car situation as well. Trying to figure out the best solution to my car not being able to pass inspection. It's all good. Protein shake to hold me over for my next run.

Headed out for another run at around 6pm. 5 miles (34:15). Relaxing 2nd run and tacked up 16 miles on the day. Foam roll, stretch, and started making burritos. Cooked up some ground beef. Added some spices. Tossed avocado, tomato, cheese, sautéed onions/mushrooms, salsa and hot sauce.

Stopped off in Saratoga for the night to a co-workers to chill out since Goupil wasn't home for the weekend. Most of his roommates were out of town as well so it was just hanging out. Long Trail Belgian Whites. Pizza slices for dinner and some type of Indian thing with peas and potatoes.

Olympics Baby!

July 27th: 5:45am wakeup. Bowl of Honey Nut Cherrios for breakfast. Off to work by 6:30am. Busy day on the computer. Making graphs/charts/presentation for upper management. Productive day and I was able to get out of work by 3:15pm. Woohoo! Lunch was real good. Chicken with egg noodles and sautéed mushrooms/avocado. I tossed it on a plate they served at the cafeteria. My co-workers thought I bought it at first. That's how good it looked.

Home by 4pm. Relaxed for a while. Out the door by 6pm for a run. 8.5+ miles (56:48). I did 3 sets of 1min, 2min, 3min (1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, 2 minutes hard, etc). I basically did this to have the time pass on the run. Back to the apartment to stretch quickly, shower and head out over to Albany for the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

Josh's house for pizza and a New Castle. Out of there by 11pm and to go straight to bed. Fun filled Saturday ahead.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

High Humidity

July 26th: 6:00am wakeup. I had to be work by 7am to assist in some TGMS (Toxic Gas Monitoring System) maintenance work. Honey Nut Cherrios for breakfast. Work 7am-3:30pm. Even the 30 minutes difference made it that much better of a day. PB & Nutella sandwich (no double deckers lately) for lunch. Yogurt with all sorts of stuff in it. Gatorade to hydrate. A huge factor for performing well with the summer conditions.

Home by 4pm. I was waiting for Goupil to walk into the door for a while and forgot that he was heading to Keene to run Blessing of the Fleet in Rhode Island the next day (Friday). Chilled out for a while and it was hot out so I wasn't looking forward to stepping out the door.

Out the door finally by 8pm. High visibility vest in full effect (I think it was one of my first times during the summer to wear it). I know this because it was riding up on my neck. I am used to wearing it over 3 layers including a pullover during the wintertime. It wasn't super annoying, but noticeable.

Back to rip off the soaking wet t-shirt. I can understand what Goupil goes through pretty much every time he runs. Doesn't matter the distance. Stretched, foam rolled and showered before making some dinner.

FaceTimed with my mom while cooking up all my food. Salad with chicken marinated in hot sauce, Italian dressing, chili powder, chicken rub, and black pepper. Caramelized onions, fresh avocado, shredded cheese (with my new real cheese grater from TJ Maxx), and tomato. Peppercorn ranch dressing. It was boss. Hit the spot. Cooked up some egg noodles for lunch tomorrow and extra chicken.

Big Bang Theory and bed by 11pm. Earliest start tomorrow because I need to make some graphs/charts/reports for our EHS manager. It only means I get to leave earlier and it's Friday. Can't complain.

Moe's (Wannabe Amaradillos)

July 25th: 6:20am wakeup. Bowl of Special K (with fruit and yogurt edition) for breakfast. Work 7:30am-4pm. Good day at work for a Wednesday. Burrito (in a tortilla this time) for lunch. It was so good. Yogurt with granola and a banana. I hadn't bought yogurt in a while so I was pumped to have this for lunch.

Home by 4:30pm. Chilled on the couch and eventually got ready for a workout at UAlbany. Plan was 4x800 and 4x600. 5k pace and 3k pace. 400 rest on the 8s and 200 rest on the 6s. I was excited to run fast again and the 800's were smooth. 2:28, 2:27, 2:26, 2:24. All negative or even splits. Rest was keep right at 7:00 minute pace. The 600's suffered a bit. 1:45, 1:49, 73 (didn't finish the last 200 because I was off pace and my legs were just junky). Walked it off and jogged back to the start to redeem myself. Blast a 400 in 62. Phew! Good to go. 2.5+ mile warmup and cooldown (40 minutes total). Another 10 miles on the day.

Moe's for dinner with some team memebers. Similar to Amaradillos in Keene (now in Maine) but just not as good. It was tasty especially because I was starving, but not the same. Cherry Coke. Home by 10ish and bed because I was kinda tired.

Muscle Memory

July 24th: 6:30am wakeup. This is my last day of oatmeal for breakfast. Grocery shopping was the plan after work and a load of laundry. I was feeling disorganized and jumbled the last couple weeks. This week will be focused on getting back into a routine and bringing structure back into my day. Work 7:30am-4pm. Alyssa forgot to do timecards/weekly reports for Colden. I helped a sista out and completed those in the morning. Lunch was burrito mix in tupperware. For the short preparation time in the morning, it was bomb. Layer of mozzarella cheese, rice and beans, salsa and topped with more mozzarella cheese. Threw in some spices. Mmmm.

Stopped off at Da Choppa on my way home for grocery shopping. Milk, meat, lots of veggies, cereal, orange juice, and all that good stuff. I was suffering from a lack of my essentials. Home by 5:00ish. Washed some dishes, put in a load of laundry (running clothes since I wore one pair of shorts the last 4 or 5 runs). Walmart for two big containers of powder Gatorade, body soap and a couple candy snacks for work (peanut M&Ms and caramel chunks). Finally got out for a run at 8:15pm by myself. Goupil was heading down to Colonie for the free local track meet for the 2 mile. Plan was 8 or 9 miles since it was late. Ended up being 10+ miles (62:16). Sweet. I thought maybe 9ish. I know I only took one real down week, but it feels like it will take longer to get back in shape. I didn't really lose any fitness for that 20 mile week. Oh, and I saw a skunk in the last 1/2 mile of my run. It scared me for a second because it was mad stealth. Glad I didn't get sprayed.

Back inside to stretch, foam roll and force myself to make some type of dinner. I decided on a little burrito mix with avocado, salsa and cheese. A San Francisco beer to cap off the night. Bed at a decent hour for a workout in Albany. Should be interesting. First workout in 4 weeks.

Classic Food

July 23rd: 6:30am wakeup. Oatmeal for breakfast. Work 7:30am-4pm. Alyssa is out this week so I responsible for some administrative tasks for Colden/Globalfoundries. Good day for being a Monday. Peanut butter and nutella sandwich with a couple granola bars and pretzels. Grocery shopping is very necessary.

Home by 4:30pm. Didn't stop at Da Choppa because I didn't feel like dealing with the crowds on a Monday. Relaxed. Goupil and I headed out at 7pm for a run. Goupil only needed 8ish so we split off towards the end of the run. 10.5 miles (69:58). Felt solid. Cruised right long for the run.

Back to stretch, foam roll, and eat a Macknight classic appetizer for dinner. Cheddar cheese (usually Monterary Jack) with hot pepper jelly and hot pepper rings. Unfortunately I did not have pepperoni or anything. None the less, it was SO good. Showered up and prepared a diesel burger for dinner. Mushrooms and avocado.

Bed at a decent hour.

The Definition of Lazy

July 22nd: 8am wakeup. Stayed in bed. Fell back asleep. Up at 10am. Stayed in bed. Dozed off. Surfed on my iPad for the next 4-5 hours. Officially left my room at 4pm. Goupil checked on me at around 2pm to make sure I was alive. Ate a Nature Valley Bar with Nutella. Chilled on the couch. Hydrated with iced tea. Pretzel and nutella tortilla wrap for another snack.

Goupil and I headed out around 7pm for the 11 mile loop (76:08). Felt good to get out there after a day of nothingness. Back to stretch, shower and not have an appetite. Chunk of fresh mozzarella cheese for dinner. Protein shake (aka milk and protein powder, the norm).

Bed at a decent hour for a fun filled week of work. 57 miles for the week. Felt good to just be able to get out there and run everyday. Another week until the official start of marathon training. Shooting for a 75 mile week with some type of workout. I need to make more of an effort to be fueling my body rather than to eat minimalist like I did today. Don't worry, I will work on that.

Backyard Olympics

July 21st: 6:15am wakeup. Oatmeal for breakfast. Again. Arrived in Saratoga by 7:30am to run easy before spectating the Silks and Satin 5K. Some teammates were running so we decided to go watch. Some great races by individuals. Cooled down with Andrew McCarthy. 6 miles (42:34) total. Refreshments after. Free box of Freihofer's chocolate chip cookies. Ate the box. Don't worry, I shared.

Back to the apartment by 10am to relax until about 12:30pm. I was gonna run more, but decided to call it a day.

Back to Saratoga for some serious Backyard Olympics. 2nd annual. Goupil and I were ready to own. We played 5 different games (two times each) and the two teams with the most points faced each other for the whole thing (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie). We won all of our rounds except for washers. We were terrible at this game.

We ended up having the best record and were facing Shaun Donegan and his girlfriend Kim. The finals were gonna be 7 minute lightning rounds of the 4 of the 5 games (Polish horseshoes, Kan Jam, Ladder Toss or Testicle Toss, and Washers). It was gonna be based on total points out of the 4 games. Every second counted. It was heated and we held our own. Polish horseshoes was our game throughout the day, but we losing after that round. Washers went the best for the minimal amount of time. Kan Jam we were killing it. With Ladder Toss last, we were down by 2 points. It was 8:30pm now and a little dark. We made it work and ended out on top by 10 points. Bam!

Fun time and headed out to Saratoga after. Opening weekend of the harness track so there were crowds everywhere. Out for a bit before heading home at 1am. Crashed hard and Sunday of nothing is all over my schedule.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Friday with Derrick

July 20th: 6:30am wakeup. Oatmeal for breakfast. I haven't bought milk yet and I have lots of cereal to eat. Basically laziness. Work 7:30am-4pm. Slow day and Alyssa had to show me a bunch of stuff I am responsible for next week while she completes her 40 hour HAZWOPER class. Charts, graphs, slideshow, emails, etc. It will break up the days next week, which is never a bad thing.

Home by 4:30ish. Planned run with Derrick at 5:15pm. Long time, no see. The run was interesting and entertaining. 9 miles (62:02). Solid run.

We wanted to go see Ted so we checked the showtimes and the next one (and only realistic one) was 7:45pm. It was about 6:30ish. Protein shake with fudge (prize from my Firecracker race). Delicious.

Goupil and I reviewed his weeks after his achilles injury back in October or November and before I arrived in NY. It was a roller coaster of mileage, workouts, races and days off. Puts it in perspective on how a running partner makes a huge difference, but no necessarily in a positive way. I was basically in shape when I arrived in NY. Goupil was still coming back and building base. So the 70-75 mile weeks he was running with me were not exactly beneficial at the time. Paid off in the long run once he took a down week here and there. Now's he racing well and feeling strong. Always a great thing with our eyes set on Hartford for the marathon.

This caused us to not eat dinner and rush to the movies. Made it there since its literally a 1/4 mile away. Hilarous friggin movie. Dying laughing the whole time. It was basically Family Guy in real life (and everything they can't say on television).

Home by 10pm. Chilled and bed at a decent hour to rest up for an easy run and the Backyard Olympics at a buddy's house all day Saturday in Saratoga.

Double Day

July 19th: 5:45am wakeup. 3 miles (NT) at 6am. Oatmeal for breakfast. Normal day at work. 7:30am-4pm. It's been throwing me off a little to work later in the day. I am used to working, relaxing, then running. Right now it is run, work, run, dinner, relax (a little), bed. I need to go to bed earlier especially once I start doubling pretty much everyday for marathon training.

Home by 4:30pm. Relaxed for a little. 7 miles (49:17) with Goupil. Just ran around town. Nothing exciting. Big ole burger for dinner, which was the most exciting thing of the day. I haven't prepared a burger for dinner in a while. It was bomb. Avocado and all. Lots of seasoning. Mmmmm.

TV and be at a reasonable hour for another day.

Celebrity Status

July 18th: 6:40am wakeup. Rushed around a bit. Quick bowl of oatmeal with the remains of the milk, maple syrup and blueberries. Mmmm. Work 7:30am-4pm. Goupil and I carpooled to work. Chicken and pasta for lunch. Snacks.

Home by 4:30pm. Fell asleep until about 5pm. Goupil woke me up. Rushed to get ready. UAlbany for the workout. I was just running for the workout. So I warmed up with the guys and continued for another 35 minutes on my own around campus. Cooled down with the guys. 10+ (76:52). Felt good to go double digits today and just run with no agenda on the day. TiVO was there (Tim Van Orden). He is sort of a celebrity in the running world. He's 44 years old and ripping out 100+ miles week. He finished with 25 miles for the day. Daaamnnn. Chatted up with him on the warmup and the fall season. He has only run a trail marathon and has gone sub 3 hours.

TCBY for dinner. 12+ dollars. New record. Big group for the outing. TiVO joined us. Always a good thing. Destroyed my fro-yo and back to the apartment to crash.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Grossness

July 17th: 6:30am wakeup. Finished off my cereal and milk. Work 7:30am-4pm. Normal day. Kinda boring. Stayed inside most of the day and avoided the humidity. Chili for lunch and lots of it. Home by 4:30pm to immediately sit on the couch and wait out the run.

Goupil and I planned on an 8pm run. I was getting tired at 6pm so I retreated to my room to take a nap. Goupil printed out a couple calendars to write up the marathon training for the 11 weeks of serious mileage/workouts. I napped. I woke up at 8ish and not much movement outside my room. I emerged from my room and Goupil wasn't changed. So we slowly transitioned into run mode by 8:45pm.

Late night run. 5+ miles (34:04). My pale white skin was our reflective vest because it was too hot to wear a shirt AND a high visibility vest. Quick bathroom break at 2.5 miles or so. We finished and felt like we were cruising at a decent pace. The darkness of the night does that to you. Short stride and feeling quick. Still a solid run. Ankle feels better each day (knock on wood).

Back to the apartment to have a protein shake, shower and recede to bed at a somewhat early hour. Kinda tough when coming back from a run at 9:20pm. It's all good.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Reset Button

July 16th: 6:36am wakeup. Bowl of Special K Honey and Vanilla with blueberries and raspberries. Mmm. Chili for lunch. Pretzels and a Nature Valley bar. Work 7:30pm-4pm. Monday was a normal day. We did get an email from our boss that everyone's hours for Colden is 7:30-4pm. Another note was the occasional overtime hours and weekend hours. Hmmm. That should be interesting.

Home by 4:30pm. Wasn't running until much later because of the heat. With a 20 mile weekend last week, I am well rested and hoping the ankle/foot will be actively recovering this upcoming week. 5+ miles (31:35). Felt pretty good. Ankle wasn't a little stiff in the 1st 1/2 mile, then I was good to go. Cruised right through it. Last mile in 5:42.

Back to the apartment. Dripping sweat. Protein shake. Marinated my chicken strips. Showered up. Out to prepare a burrito with beans, rice, avocado, tomato and mozzerlla cheese. The beans and rice was left over from last week. The chicken is for tomorrow for lunch. Burrito and television.

Bed by 10:30pm. This week pretty much starts the build-up to the marathon in October. A few key races along the way and a plan of some big mileage to prepare myself for Hartford. Gonna be a fun ride. Cannot wait.

Making The Stops

July 15th: 9am wakeup. Diesel omelette for breakfast. Grape tomatoes, onion, and Boar's Head deli ham. Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. Came out perfect. Salt, pepper and ketchup. Sautéed the veggies and browned the deli ham in another pan to put in-between at the end.

Television. Took Tucker (Kimber's dog) for a swim across the street in the stream. Swam in the pool to cool off in the afternoon. Headed out by 2:50ish to stop off in Newtown, CT to see my dad and chill for a couple of hours.

Arrived at 4pm. Worked out well because the t-storms came rolling through around 4:30ish. Lost power. My parents just got a gas stove so we made hotdogs on the stove. Let the storm pass before taking a lap in the yard. Tended to the garden. Checked out the new hammock. Sprayed some pesticide on the driveway so my dad can reseal it in the next month. Gathered up my stuff and headed out by 7:30pm.

Thought I was in the clear storm wise. I wasn't. Within 30 minutes. It started to torrential downpour. So much that I was killing it on the highway at 35 mph. Hazard lights on and everything. The extreme high wipers weren't enough. I made it out alive and home by 10pm. Bed by 11pm.

Dingleberry Picking and The Heat

July 14th: 8:30ish wakeup. Slept alright. Air conditioned room, but tossed around for some of the night. Bob and his friends were chipping away all the trees they took down in his yard. Sarah, Kimber and I hit up the Daily Bagel for breakfast. Canadian bacon, egg, and jalapeño pepper cheese on a sesame seed bagel. Mmmm. Ate breakfast back at the house.

Blueberry and raspberry picking at 12pm. Didn't think it was that hot out until we got out there in the desert like conditions. Humid. Sunny. Sweating. Raspberries we had to work for because it's early in the season. Once we became one with the beetles and bees, we dug right in there to pick the best of the best. You had to search, but it was worth it. Blueberries were much easier. Kimber left from Sholan Farms to head down to Higganum, CT.

Sarah and I headed back to the house to go for a run. 5 miles (43:00). Hot. Passed by the bank. 95 degrees. Whoa! Sarah stopped off at the local pizza restaurant and asked for a cup of tap water. She was given a bottle of cold water. No charge. Sweet.

Back to stretch, shower, and head out the door by 4pm to head down to Kimber's parents house. Made it there in a solid time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. Forgot my berries in the fridge. Mothertrucker. Dinner with Kimber's family. Kimber's sister Erin and her daughter, Brooklyn. Brooklyn was hilarous. We stuck stickers on our face. We drove to the soccer game, the store to pick up cookies and ice cream, and home to eat them and go to bed (all imaginary in front of the glass door in the living room). Cookies and cream ice cream for dessert. Brooklyn expressed strongly that she doesn't like this type of ice cream. She doesn't like cookies that much. Terrible thing. More for me.

Relaxed in front of the TV and bed by 11pm.

Uh-oh!

July 13th: 6:40am wakeup. Wait I was technically supposed to be at work by 6am. Rushed around and out the door by 6:50pm to make it to work by 7:10am. It wasn't the end of the world because Alyssa was there at 6am to escort Sean (new employee) around. She had charts/graphs to do in the morning, but those were put on the delay. It's all good. The first time I have been late for work (for this job and maybe a total of 4 times between all jobs). Work until 3:15ish. Busy day, but tasks were completely even having it be Friday the 13th.

Home to the apartment to pack up real quick and out the door by 3:50pm. Smooth ride with no problems. I had cash and change for the tolls. Ca-chang! Arrived my sister's in Leominster, Mass by 6:35pm. Greeted by Tucker and Sarah. Kimber was arriving around 8:30ish. Bob was coming home by 8ish after his softball game. Sarah and I hit up the ghettoish Hannaford's. First set of people we see are a couple of young girls. One with a stroller and the other with half of a shirt on (belly shirt). Okayyy! Strange. Grabbed some things for homemade pizza on the grill.

Back to start making pizza. All things went according to plan. The first two pizzas went great. Tomato and green pepper. Turkey pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and ricotta. The third pizza made it to the grill, but not all of it made it back to the countertop. Dropped right outside on the deck. Salvaged what we could. It's all good. Dinner eaten at 9pm.

Rocked out to some new songs (Sarah was way behind on the times so I had to catch her up). Bed by 11pm.

Night Out With The Boys

July 12th: 6:30ish wakeup. Cereal and another serving of chili for lunch. Cleaning out the system. Normal day at work. Blah day. Nothing really exciting. Home by 4:30pm.

Goupil and I headed out for a run at 5:30ish. Meeting up with some guys at 7pm in Albany for drinks. 5 miles (35:30). Kinda hot out. Survived. I made sure to make a double decker ham and cheese sandwich for the ride over to Albany.

Made it to Lionheart by 7pm. A bunch of the guys were there (Tom O'Grady, Pat, Eamon, and others). Grabbed a Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat (yeah I like the fruity girly beers). It was delicious. We hung out there for a while then hit up Hollywood for darts and food. Grabbed a Long Trail Blackberry Wheat (Less girly, but still kinda fruity). Delicious. Chilled there for a while and made it back to the apartment by 11pm.

Good night with the guys and chill out for a bit. Bed kinda late for a planned early work day of 6am-2:30pm because I need to escort one of our new employees around (no access badge yet). It's all good. Looking to get out of work early for a big traveling weekend.

Now It's A Tradition

July 11th: 6:30am wakeup. Bowl of cereal for breakfast. Big old lunch made. A serving of chili. Shredded mozzarella cheese to melt on top. Chocolate milk. Potato chips. A mini ham and cheese sub. Hot pepper rings for the sub. Work 7:30-4pm.

Home to relax for a while before heading down to Albany for the workout. I wasn't working out, but Goupil was. And TCBY was gonna be eaten post workout. So I warmed up with the team and basically watched the workout. I timed the guys that were running the 600 workout. I was more beneficial that I thought I was gonna be by timing one of the guys, Eamon, for his workout. His watch was messed up on the first couple intervals and I ended being some good motivation for his workout. Cool with me. I basically ran back and forth between the 200 and 400 mark. Cooled down with the guys 2+ miles. 5 miles on the day and the ankle/foot is the same. Nothing better, nothing worse.

Goupil and I went on our TCBY date because no one else wanted to go. Limited myself to 6 bucks of frozen yogurt. Made chili cheese dogs when I got home for some real dinner (for the first time). I couldn't break tradition though and not go to TCBY.

A couple of chili cheese (Swiss) dogs. The hotdogs were no antibiotics, no fillers, no preservatives, no nitrates, gluten free and all beef. Cooked them up under the broiler and toasted the buns. Mmm.

Bed at a decent hour.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Just Another Day

July 10th: 6:30am wakeup. Showered and shaved. Cereal for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich. Cold pasta salad with chicken. Cape cod cracked peppper and salt potato chips. Organic chocolate milk in a juice box. Work 7:30am-4pm. Lots of emails sent to tool owners and HACs. Productive day overall.

Home by 4:30ish. Relaxed on the couch. Goupil was heading out for a run with Derrick. I just wanted to run on my own today. Goupil headed out at 5:30pm. I chilled until about 6:15pm. Ran the route that Goupil should of been finishing up his run on, but he wasn't there. Ran 5 miles (36:10) through the Shen school campus. Ankle was okay. Felt better on softer terrain. Breezy out. Back to assume that Goupil didn't met up with Derrick. True. Derrick never showed. It happens every once in a while.

Stretched, foam rolled and iced. Chili with shredded mozzarella cheese for dinner. Big Bang Theory. Shower was the last thing completed before retiring for the night. Bed before 10pm. Early night. Proud of myself. More than 8 hours of sleep. Sweet!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Suzy Homemaker At Her Finest

July 9th: 6:00am wakeup. Bowl of Special K Honey and Vanilla for breakfast. Boar's Head black forest ham and lacey swiss cheese. Hot pepper rings in a separate tupperware to put on the sandwich at work. Work 7:20-3:50pm. Carpool with Goupil. Home by 4:30pm. Dropped off Goupil because he was running in Saratoga at a trail race at 6:15pm. I stopped off at Hannaford's to pick up tomato juice and mayo. Tomato juice for chili and mayo for sandwiches.

Back to the apartment to start making a bunch of food. No run today so I had tons of time. Washed some dishes. Started making chili. Caught up with Jared Samuel on life while I made chili. Things were going smoothly until one of the cans of beans pop top broke and the can opener wasn't working on it. I decided to press down to open it. Boom! Explosion of bean juice all over my shirt and all over the counter. Oops. Continued choppping up vegetables and throwing it all in. I forgot the recipe just fits in the slow cooker with the exception of less tomato sauce and tomato juice. I added those first by mistake. Oh well. Slowly removed the top layer of fat/liquid as it cooked. Right after I finished making chili, I started making pasta salad and sweet potato fries. Egg noodles with fresh mozzarella, vidalia onions, green and red peppers, and diced up tomato. Everything minced up small. Cooked up some chicken stripes. Tossed the pasta salad with the veggies and what not in a big Pyrex dish to cool off. Tossed the chicken in another Pyrex dish to cool off as well in the fridge. Sweet potato fries cooking in the oven. Talked with Kimber about my day while I waited for dinner to cool/cook. Dinner was amazing.

Goupil home by 8:30ish. Chilled the rest of the night. X-Men Origins: Wolverine on FX. Bed somewhat early for another day at work.

Boilermaker 15K Race Report + Shenanigans

July 8th: 4:10am wakeup. Trouble falling asleep the night before so I didn't get much sleep. Up and moving around though pretty quickly. Oatmeal. Packed up and out the door at 4:45am. Arrived at the carpool point (UAlbany) to make the drive in the van up to Utica, NY.

Van ride was smooth. One stop for a bathroom break. Napped a little bit. Arrived at the finish line (point A to point B course, but start and finish were only 2.5 miles from each other). School buses shuttled us to the starting line. Arrived at the starting line with no room to spare. 7:25am. Race goes off at 8:00 sharp! Had to find the baggage check, warmup, take a poop and get to the starting line. Found the baggage check (changed into racing attire before the warmup, flats and all). Found the starting line corral we were in. No place to warmup and a huge line for the lone 2 port-o-pottys for the 100+ people in the corral. Found a spot to warmup outside the fenced in area and pooped in some bushes while perching on a guardrail. Worked like a charm. Back to the start line with 7 minutes to spare. Off at 8am!

Watch was worn so we could keep track of time during the warmup and not miss the start. So I decided to time it. Splits 5:22, 5:23, 5:29 (16:53 5k), 5:45 (uphill), 4:45 (downhill with the lead women, sweet), 5:13 (33:10 10K, 16:17 2nd 5k), 5:50 (uphill), 5:13, 5:37 (spent and hurting), 1:35 last .3 miles. No real sprint and glad to be done. It warmed up through the race. I wasn't haven't it, but I finished in 50:16 (last 5k in 17:16, ouch). 2 mile cooldown (15:45) with the team. Popsicles, snow cone, and a protein shake all before the cooldown. Beer waited until after. Free Saranac beer and an empty stomach.

Van ride home. Passed out the whole time. Crashed on McCarthy's couch for a bunch of hours. Cheeseburger and drove home finally. Sweet potato fries for dinner. Bed early for a Monday of awesomeness.

63 for the week and ready for a couple down weeks.

Records Are Meant To Be Broken

July 7th: 8am wakeup. Back to bed. Out of bed at 9:15pm. Felt amazing to sleep in and not have to try. The only reason I got out of bed was nature was calling my name. Goupil and I headed out for a easy 5 miler (37:01).

Back to shower and head to the library to photocopy my ID for Joe Benny in order to pick up my race packet early for Boilermaker. Drove down to Albany to drop it off at his house. No problems there. Back to my apartment by 1ish.

The rest of the day consisted of attempting to watch a movie (ended up napping by the middle of the movie) laundry, and grocery shopping. The grocery shopping was an all time high by a long shot. $139.74. I basically bought everything in the store and a bunch of each. The items included: 2 things of orange juice, salad dressing, butter, yogurt, oatmeal, milk, Nutrigrain bars, Nature Valley Bars, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, cold cuts (ham and swiss cheese), tortillas, bananas, sweet potatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, green and red peppers, avocado, vidalia onions, hotdogs, tomoatoes, mushrooms, cereal (3 boxes), cumin, beans, tomato sauce, potato chips, pretzels, bread, eggs, chicken, ground beef, paper towl, salsa, and rolls. It was awesome. My plan was on some bulk dishes such as chili and pasta salad.

Watched Snatch and ended up being yelled at to go to bed instead of falling asleep on the couch or struggling to stay awake. The nap was necessary and lasted 2+ hours. Woke up to do some dishes. Goupil headed out for a run while I just chilled. He walked into the door around 6:30pm and I was about to make chili. He asked if I was going to the pasta party. I said I wasn't planning on it. He showered and we headed out just before 7pm.

Pasta dinner at McCarthy's and convinced people to go to TCBY for dessert. Goupil and I went with the bigger container. Uh oh! New record! $10.27 later with lots of fruit and delicious fro-yo. I was the first one to finish as well because I'm a beast at eating.

Home at a decent hour to gather up some stuff for the Boilermaker and bed. 4am wakeup. Woohoo!

No, I Am Not Living In The Woods

July 6th: 5:30am wakeup. Snooze like a champ. I didn't get out of bed until 6:30am. I kept waking up thinking I had to get out of bed. No morning run. Orders by Goupil. Easy miles on the legs. Peanut butter and Nutella double decker sandwich for lunch. Oatmeal and maple syrup for breakfast. Same thing as yesterday. Normal day at work.

Home by 4:30ish. It's Friday and we were in no rush to run. Chilled. Out the door by 7pm for an easy 7 miles (50:54). Nothing special. Legs felt pretty good. Back to stretch, foam roll and watch television. Made beans and rice for dinner. Salsa and chili powder to add some flavor. Pretty boring, but delicious. Brought me back to the summer living up at the campsite. I didn't throw it in a tortilla, but I didn't have to worry about dropping anything

Bed at a decent hour. Single run on Saturday in attempt to rest the legs and try to run better at the Boilermaker 15k on Sunday.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Regroup and Ease It Up

July 5th: 5:30am wakeup. Run with Goupil and Renee (37 year old woman from Willow Street) at 5:50am. 3.5+ miles (NT). Goupil had to pull off into the woods after all the spicy food eaten the day before so we continued on without him. We doubled back to pick him up. He veered off into the woods again. Nevermind. Ran a loop around the complex and finished up. Talked for a little bit in the parking lot before heading back inside to get ready for work. Peanut butter and Nutella double decker for lunch. Oatmeal with maple syrup for breakfast. Work 7:40-4:20pm. It was a normal day with a couple speed bumps.

Home by 4:45pm. I drove for the carpool this morning. We didn't do much before the run and we waited out the heat. I did cook a sweet potato while we sat on the couch. I get lazy after a later run so I usually don't feel like making dinner.

6:30pm out the door for an easy jogger. Goupil and I started conversing about the Firecrack 4 miler and how it went overall. The fact that I wasn't super disappointed with my performance wasn't a good thing. A bunch of things didn't click before/during the race. I didn't feel much pop in my legs during strides. I jogged the 3rd mile of the race and I didn't sprint the final stretch all that much. Goupil let me know that I've been racing alot and haven't taken much down time. I have taken a down week after bigger mileage weeks or races. So we decided I would race this weekend at the Boilermaker 15k and then take the next 2 weeks super easy. Days off and short days. My ankle/shin/calf/bottom of the foot has been bothering me the past week or so (all related to each other, it just depends on the day). It's all good though. A couple serious down weeks will do me good before the serious marathon training begins for the fall marathon. 8.5 mile (60:27). 12 on the day. Felt good and relaxed. Hot out. Goupil added on.

Back to the apartment to stretch, foam roll, tennis ball the foot, finish the dishes and drink a protein shake. Iced the "shin." Sweet potato quesadilla with peach salsa for dinner. Big Bang Theory. Bed early to rest up for Friday funday. Ibuprofen popped to help with the minor aches and pains.

And yes Boj, I do this everyday with ease. It's fun for me. The blog writing is stress relieving.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Firecracker 4 Race Report

July 4th: 6:15am wakeup. Had to poop really badly, but wanted to go back to sleep for a little bit. Didn't work. Bathroom. Breakfast. Single packet of oatmeal with maple syrup. Gathered all the gear for the race and the day (change of clothes, deodorant, etc). Left around 7:15am to head up Saratoga, NY.

Arrived in downtown Saratoga around 7:40am. We had to go the round about way to the parking lot near the finish line. Snagged a parking spot. Met the team near the starting line where the tent was set up. Port-o-potty stop was necessary before anything else could go down. Chilled in the shade and tried to avoid the sun. Warmup around 8:20am. Last mile of the course with teammates. 2 miles (15:43) Clif Bar raspberry energy packet. Back to change into flats and jersey. Rocked the compression socks. Stopped off at the nearby hotel to use the bathroom again. To the starting line for strides and get a good spot up front.

Gun went off at 9am. Out to the front and settle. Strung out immediately within the first mile. 5:00 through the first mile. Felt good and ready to roll. At about 1.5 miles, heat and humidity set in and I wasn't feeling great. 10:10 through 2 miles. People had sprinklers and pressure washers making a mist tunnel along the course. Helped, but not enough. Legs feeling Sunday and the heat was not agreeing with me. Chilled for a 1/2 mile until teammate Kevin Treadway pulled up next to me on the downhill section. Re-motivated me to race and bring it in for the end. I was zoning out until 3. 15:40. Ouch. Terrible mile and refocused to finish the last mile. 20:52 to finish. Glad to finish. Led my team to a win in the team competition so I am happy. Cooldown reverse the course 4+ miles (33:09) for 10+ miles on the day. Awards ceremony. Hot fudge and a medal for my 6th place finish. $250 for the team win. Woohoo! 4 Chobanis in like 5 minutes, shaved ice (root beer), and a dough boy (a fancy hot pocket).

Cleaned up (poor man's bath with a washcloth) at a co-workers house. Stopped at Gaffney's for a New Castle and a buffalo chicken wrap. Sweating like crazy between sitting on the patio and the heat of the food. Not a good combo. New Castle was very refreshing though. Stopped off at Eddie Bauer's after lunch to grab a bathing suit because Goupil and I did not bring one. The plan was to go to the Victorian Pool at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Found a couple suits. Green with tree designs. Right up my alley. And 60% off! 21 bucks. Sweet.

Chilled at the pool for about 4+ hours. Probably about 2 in the sun and 2 in the shade. Dozed off a couple times (in the shade). A whole array of people at the pool. Old and young. Tan and pale. It was very interesting for people watching. One guy had a ridiculous comb over/around. I wish I took a picture. A thin film of sunblock/baby oil covered the surface of the water. It was gross, but the water was refreshing.

Back to downtown Saratoga by 5:30ish. Changed out of the bathing suit. Chilled for a bit. Our co-worker, Goupil and I headed out to Catina for Mexican food. Mmmm. Spicy beef enchiladas with a Saranac root beer. I asked for orange soda, but I don't like to cause ruckuses. Dessert at Plum Dandy. Cookies and cream, chocolate, and vanilla frozen yogurt with mini peanut butter cups, caramel turtles, chocolate sprinkles, sour gummi worms, and hot fudge. 8 bucks later. Oops. Co-worker had a 12 dollar coupon. She thought it was gonna cover all three of us. It ended up being 20+ bucks total. Yeah buddy! Devoured it as we people watched on Broadway Street. Goupil gave his phone number to this cutie that was a hostess. Ca-chang!

Back to the apartment by 8:45ish. Shower to rinse off the nastiness from the pool. Bed early. Slept like a rock.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Feeling Fresh

July 3rd: 5:40am wakeup. Very difficult to get out of bed this morning. Groggy as ever. Out the door for a 3 mile shakeout (NT). Back to stretch and foam roll. Made breakfast and lunch at the same time. Oatmeal in a mug. Lunch consisted of chicken with the normal spices, egg noodles, and sauteed peppers, mushroooms, onions, and tomatoes. Mozzarella cheese. Balsamic vinaigrette dressing. It was really good. It's my go to dish that always hits the spot when I'm real hungry. Cream soda to wash it all down. Work 7:45am-4:15pm. Goupil and I carpooled for the second time in a row.

Home by 4:45pm. Chilled on the couch and ate some snacks. A plain tortilla, a small bag of potato chips, a Nature Valley bar, and a cream soda. Threw in a load of laundry (all of my running clothes from the last 3+ weeks). Tossed it in the dryer before getting ready for a run. I had pretty much nothing left to run in so I went with winter thermal boxer briefs and half tights. Almost 6 miles (NT).

Back to stretch and foam roll. Trimmed up the hair before showering up. Poison ivy might be spreading slowly. Washed the rest of the dishes. Made some pasta with peppers and onions. I needed some more protein so I cracked an egg in the sauteed veggies and sprinkled shredded mozzarella cheese all over it. Good combo. Basically a veggie omelette over a bed of pasta.

Big Bang Theory and bed early for the Firecracker 4 tomorrow morning at 9am. Saratoga for the day.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Run. Rest. Repeat.

July 2nd: 5:30am wakeup. 3 mile shakeout (NT) with Goupil at 5:50am. Back for Rice Krispies and orange juice. Made a double decker PB&Nutella for lunch. Pretzels. Nature Valley bar. Nutrigrain bar. A few slices of homemade banana bread. Work 7:50am-4:20pm. I had to write a rent check in the morning. Goupil and I carpooled because we were previewing the course for Wednesday afte work at 5:30pm. We packed our running gear so we just left right after work up to Saratoga.

Ran with another guy from the running club. 4+ miles (32:08). Hot for the jog through and I was starving right before. Remembered I hadn't eaten my Nature Valley bar for lunch (lifesaver). Course isn't terrible. Mostly flat with one hill at like 3.5 miles. Should be a fun day. Hopefully walk away with a 4 mile PR.

Back to the house by 6:30pm to relax and ice up the legs. Protein shake. Goupil wanted to watch 21 Jump Street again. I was down. He hadn't returned it yet. Started watching at 7:40pm. Still hilarous as ever. I was defrosting chickken and Goupil had already ate before we turned the movie on. I ended up having a cream soda and the rest of my banana bread. Another successful dinner. Chicken will have to wait until lunch tomorrow.

Bed by 10:30pm. 7 miles on the day. Ease into the week. Another easy double run tomorrow to be well rested for the Firecracker 4 in Saratoga, NY.

What Motivates You

July 1st: 8:30am wakeup. It felt great to sleep in. Laid in bed. Finally up to make breakfast. Big ole 3 egg omelette with onions, tomato, peppers and mushrooms. Mozzarella cheese and ketchup. Made Kimber a tomato and mozzarella omelette AT THE SAME TIME. Yeah, I'm that talented. Goupil back from his run and said it was mad hot out. That let me know I wouldn't be running until the evening. Gave me a chance to hydrate and fuel up.

Kimber and I swung by TJ Maxx/Homegoods for some solid shopping. I picked up a real diesel cheese grater, a set of bathroom rugs/mats, and a clearance pack of cream soda (only 3 instead of 4). The cashier was overly friendly and asking about the cream soda. He was like, "You want one with 4 instead of 3?" and "So what does cream soda taste like?" I responded with "clearance" and "cream soda." Whatever.

Stopped off at GNC to pick up more protein powder. It was the same guy from last time that tried having me buy the "better protein" aka the more expensive one. He dished out his salesman pitch about what kind of protein powder I wanted. Are you looking to gain weight or maintain weight? What are you using it for? I responded with all the answers to the questions he was gonna ask. Basically stating that I know what I want and you can't convince me otherwise. He left me alone. I think he remembered me. Kimber grabbed some as well. We got the gold card deal of 20% off and that was off the sale price. Sweet.

Next stop was Target. I bought some anti-itch lotion for my poison ivy (I might have wiped with poison ivy leaves last week when I was on a pit stop during a run), light bulbs (a pack of 5 energy savers), and some hand soap (a small dispenser of black raspberry and vanilla, I know it's girly).

Quick stop at Starbucks because Kimber needed another coffee for the ride home back to NH. She got me a strawberry banana whey protein smoothie. Mmmm. Back to the apartment to relax and help Kimber pack up her bags. I changed up for my long run. Tortilla for a snack. Now it's 5:15pm. A long goodbye and back inside to warm up for a 15 miler.

I headed out the door at 5:45pm. Oh shiznit! THe trials start at 7pm. I know the 1500m finals aren't until 7:23ish. I have less time that I hoped. It got me cruising from the start to make it back. Originally (the first 5 miles) I didn't think I was gonna make it back. I got into a rhythm and clipped off the pace mile at a time. 15.25 miles (95:46). 6:17 pace overall. I started hitting my overall pace at around 5 miles. My last 10 in 60:56. Felt good and ending my last 2 miles in 5:52 pace. Felt smooth and relaxed. It was hot out and I spaced out my one Bee Stinger fuel into 3 servings (4 miles, 8 miles, and 11 miles).

Back to the apartment with only a couple minutes to spare. It's funny that watching less than 4 minutes of television can motivate you to run faster. Freezer pop to cool the body's temperature. Protein shake for immediate recovery. Olympic trials. Foam roll. Shower eventually. No dinner. I know terrible. I have food, but the heat makes me lose my appetite. And I'm lazy sometimes. Bed at a decent hour for a morning run shakeout with Goupil.

Saratoga For The Day

June 30th: 7:30am wakeup. Back to bed until 8:20ish. Out the door by 8:30am for an easy 7 mile (50:41) shakeout on my own while Kimber slept in. Back to stretch, foam roll, protein shake and shower. Bowls of cereal for breakfast at 10:30am. Chilled out to digest and figure out what we were gonna do for the rest of the day. We decided on Saratoga for mini golf and shopping.

Headed out around 12 or so for Saratoga. We walked up and down Broadway street. Hit up Eddie Bauer for the first store. Found some sweet sales. Picked up a pair of shorts, a tech polo, and a flannel. Craig was a huge help. A burly man with a beard. Honest opinions and set our stuff aside in a fitting room (with your name on a white board). Checked out a couple other stores before lunch at Spring Street Deli. Cherry Coke and a American Mix sandwich. Stopped off at another place to split a strawberry frutopia smoothie.

Back to the apartment by 4 or so. Goupil rented 21 Jump Street. We watched that around 5ish. Hilarous movie. Done by 7pm. I had all intentions of running again. Kimber did not. I convinced her to get out the door.

I ran a little before we both went out for 4 miles. 6 miles total (48:12). My first 2 miles on my own was terrible. Not how my legs felt or anything. It was the fact that I ran for a 1/2 mile along a trail. About 8-10 flies swarmed my head and were pissing me off. I tried picking up the pace and throwing leaves I ripped off plants behind me. Nothing. I finally decided to rip off an entire branch off a tree and run with it like a soldier with a gun marching into war. It worked wonders. Once I exited the woods, the flies were still on me. I pulled out my Star Wars lightsaber moves and slashed the flies away from me for the 2nd mile. It was awesome.

Back to the apartment by 8:20ish. Protein shake. Foam roll. Chilled. Watched some Olympic Trials. No dinner planned so we went to 16 Handles (frozen yogurt) at 10pm. 8+ dollars of frozen yogurt. Strawberry, banana and pomegrante tart. Lots of fruit and some chocolate.

Bed by 11:30pm. Long run on Sunday to end the week right.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Late Night Run

June 29th: 6:30am wakeup. Bowl of cereal. Work 7:30am-4pm. Another PB&Nutella sandwich for lunch with my last homemade brownie. Home by 4:30ish. Kimber wasn't arriving until 9pm. Goupil and I chilled out until 5:30pm. Started watching The Rum Diary with Johnny Depp on Netflix. Crazy, but good movie. Done by 7:30pm.

Out for a run after for an easy 7+ miles (50:20) with Goupil. Back by 8:20ish. Kimber here at 8:50pm. Relaxed the rest of the night and ready to sleep in on Saturday morning. Banana bread and milk for "dinner." Slacking on the dinner making lately, but the heat causes me to lose my appetite. I am just glad I have the protein shake for postrun.

We did record Kimber's reaction to a Youtube music video of "Twerk It" by VIC. It was hilarous!