Beef Stew

March 25th: 6:30am wakeup. Protein shake for breakfast. Work 7:30am-4pm. Double decker PB&J for lunch with a Clif Bar Protein Bar. Nature Valley bar at the end of the day for a snack. Home by 4:30pm.

Cleaned the bathroom before making my way out the door for an easy 5 miles (34:28) with strides. Ughhh! I felt like I was slugging along. As well as feeling like I ran New Bedford only the day before (not 7). I mostly contribute that to my massage on Saturday morning. 90 minutes of amazingness. Except I did not do the post massage rituals. Not much hydration or stretching. Uh oh! Oops. But, I can feel the benefits of the massage in my back and hips. My hamstrings and calves were not too happy. Lots of stretching, foam rolling, and icing to aid in recovery and reduction in soreness.

Steak fajita for dinner. Made some beef stew in the slow cooker late night for the week. Mmm.

March 26th: Honey bunches of Oats for breakfast. Another double decker PB&J with a Clif Bar Protein bar for lunch. I had to eat it at my desk (which I never do) because I had a meeting from 11am-11:30am. Another meeting at 12pm. Oh well.

Chilled on the couch. 7+ miles (54:35) at 6:30pm. I stayed on the trails, baseball perimeter, and soccer fields to aid the recovery. Felt amazing even with all the puddles, mud, and slush. Cranked the last mile a bit in 5:57 to test the soreness. Good to go. Stretched, foam rolled, and iced again.

Beef stew with toasted rolls for dinner. I think it needs something else added to it, but pretty dang good. Goup home by 8:30ish. Caught up on the weekend and bed at a decent hour.

100% Nothing

March 18th-24th: All these days consisted of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Work 40 hours. Dark Knight Rises a couple of the nights. Oreos were eaten in excess (and put in everything). Milkshakes were made, ice cream sundaes were eaten as dinner, and lots of vegging out. It was a little pathetic, but totally worth it.

Ice cream sundae (crushed Oreos and chocolate syrup)

Yogurt with Oreos (homemade Yo Crunch!)

Goup told me to take 7 days off of all physical activity. I did just that. I stayed away from the blog for a week (sorry for some). Caught up on some sleep.

Subie is a beast!

 

Sunday was some level of physical activity with laundry and cleaning the apartment. I cleaned out the toaster oven, the microwave, the stovetop, and the oven. I hit up the laundromat to do 5 loads of laundry. Swung by Walmart after to grab a few essentials. Blasted the music all day.

I didn't know Pandora had a monthly limit for mobile usage. Oops!

Fairhaven/New Bedford Half "Race Report"

March 16th: Slept in until 10:30am. Washed some dishes while I made some oatmeal. My brown sugar was rock solid. Goup let me have some of his. Some milk for creaminess. Watched some Boy Meets World.

Packed up and on the road by 12pm. Stopped at TD Bank for cash withdrawal. Made it down to the Hampton Inn by 4pm. Bathroom and changed up for an easy shakeout. 3 miles (21:51). Back to stretch, sticked the legs and showered. Watched some Swamp People before dinner.

The Pasta House for dinner. Waited an 1.5 hours for a table, but it was worth it. Delicious food. Goup and I were a bit underdressed. Oh well. Made our food disappear and out of the there by 9pm.

Potato skins (spinach cream, mozzarella cheese, tomato, and bacon) for an appetizer. Butternut ravoli with fresh vegetables in brown sugar and cream cheese with chicken.

Back to the hotel room to relax and head to bed.

March 17th: 6:30am wakeup. Bathroom. Downstairs for breakfast. Belguim waffle and some water. Back upstairs to change up and pack up my belongings. Over to the YMCA in New Bedford to pick up my number and chill for a bit. Met up with the Whirlaway guys for a warmup. Everything went according to plan and I was feeling good. I forgot my arm warmers back at my car so I jogged over their to grab them before the start.

A solid start. About 2-3 miles in, my lower right back/hip tightened up and put a kink in my stride. I worked through it and solid through 5 miles (25 high I think). Ready to attack the next 5 miles(especially knowing the course), things started locking back up and the calves were not feeling too hot around 7 miles. Made it through 10 miles in 52:02. 20 seconds slower than last year and I wasn't charging to the finish. The last 5k was a struggle (pain train) and I made it across the line in 70:31. Blahh. Immediately after, my right hip and back tightened right up to a point it was painful to walk. No cooldown. Some food (fish sandwich) in the cafeteria before heading out to lunch with my parents, Kimber and Goup. BLT with a vanilla milkshake. Mmmm.

Final stretch. Not even looking up. Weak sauce.

Home by 6pm. Showered and relaxed the rest of the night.

The whole hip thing was weird. It loosened up by the time I got home in NY. I have had IT band issues, but never anything like that. Not everyday can be a career day and a planned 7 days completely off.

Standard Monday Through Friday

March 11th: 5am wakeup. On the road by 5:30pm from Peterborough, NH. Banana for breakfast. Leftover lasagna roll-ups for lunch. Work 8:15am-4:45pm. 8.5+ (60:53) with Goup at 6pm. Exploration run that was relaxing and just what I needed for a Monday. Protein shake, bowl fo Go Lean Cinnamon Crumble and a stack of Eggo waffles for dinner. Rocked my new Saucony Fast Twitches. Reflective yellow. Sick.

March 12th: 6:30am wakeup. Cereal for breakfast. Work 7:45am-4:15pm. Leftover steak and rice for a pre-lunch. 4 pieces of sausage and mushroom pizza for lunch during our Colden meeting with our project manager. Home to run a solid 5.5 (37:13) on my own at 6:15pm. Back to stretch, foam roll and stretch. Protein shake and a Eggo waffle sandwich quickly before heading down to Albany to celebrate a buddy's birthday. Hit up a couple bars on Broadway and home by 12am. Fun night. Tried the Abita Purple Haze beer. Mmm.

 

Teacup.

March 13th: 7:00am wakeup. Cereal for breakfast. Sausage, egg and cheese on morning break because I was starving. No lunch made so I bought some fresh sushi at the cafeteria. Alaskan roll. The guy convinced me after I ordered the California roll. It's the California roll with Salmon (avocado, cucumber, crab stick, AND salmon). Mmmm. Wicked good. Toast with butter and jelly for a snack before my run at 6:30pm. 7+ miles (43:30). 8 sets of minute on, minute off. Covered 2.82 miles in the 16:00. 5:40 pace. Calves were pain free. Protein shake and more Eggo waffles for dinner. I need to do some grocery shopping.

March 14th: 6:50am wakup. Bowl of cereal for breakfast. Work 7:45am-4:15pm. Two PB&J sandwiches for lunch. Home to relax for a while. Out for a run around 6:20ish. 7+ miles (50:01) on my own. Stretched, foam rolled, and over to Hannaford's for a quick grocery stop. Steak, veggies, milk and orange. Clif Bar Crunch Bars. I assisted a woman in finding ripe avocados. They were pretty much all hard and she gave up. I found 4 that were on the softer side. I handed her two. Home to make steak, egg noodles, and mushrooms/onions.

Divided into two servings.

March 15th: 6:45am wakeup. Protein shake for breakfast. Work 7:45am-4:15pm. Easy slow Friday. Leftovers for lunch (almost a beef stroganoff). Home to relax for a bit before heading out for a easy 5++ miles (40:12) on soft terrain at 6pm. Trails and grass fields right by the apartment. Back to stretch, foam roll, and ice. Protein shake. Bowl of cereal and bed by 11pm.

New Bedford this weekend! Gonna be a blast!

Spoiled

March 10th: 9am wakeup. Oops! Back to sleep until 12:30pm (Day Lights Saving already adjusted). Downstairs to be greeted by Kimber cleaning. I snacked on a banana with peanut butter for fuel for the run. Out the door by 1:30pm for a 11+ (78:46) mile loop. Stopped twice for a bathroom break. It was a nice rolling hills loop in Peterborough. Passed by a few farms and some scenic views.

Back to stretch, foam roll, and ice the calves. Pain free on the run for the 2nd day in a row (and 2nd day in a row rocking just shorts). Good things and still taking all the precautionary measures to maximize recovery. Chilled on the couch while Kimber showered and got ready for our outing to Keene. I showered and grabbed a couple Thin Mints from the cabinet.

Huge fro. Notice the outfit (pajamas pants and dress shirt).

Over to Keene by 5pm. TJ Maxx, Staples, Target and Da Choppa. A golf short sleeve polo, chocolate caramel kettlecorn (for the desk at work), and some tortilla chips seasoned with spices. Da Choppa for ingredients for the Pinterest recipe Kimber found.

Back to Peterborough to prepare the caprese lasagna roll-ups. Wicked good. Short prep time and 30 minutes in the oven. Ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, roma tomatoes, and basil. Mmmm. Stayed at Kimber's for the night and leaving in the morning for work.

The layers.

 

62 miles for the week. A solid week overall. No real workout, but still got the miles in. New Bedford next weekend and ready for the stacked competition. Should be a fun one. Spoiled with the warm weather all weekend. The good thing is that I can go for a run right after work and not about worrying about throwing on a reflector vest. Woohoo!

Whirlaway Dinner

March 9th: Slept in until about 9:30am. I decided to eat breakfast before I tackling a run. I was looking forward to this since I the minute I bought them. Eggo waffles with butter and maple syrup. I opened up the box and placed 4 waffles in the toaster oven. Once toasted to perfection, I stacked them up on the plate. Pad of butter on each layer. Real maple syrup (same container I won from the Fast Friends 4.5 miler last year) drizzled ever so carefully on top. Once every crevasse was filled, I allowed the overflow to spill past the edges and down the side of the tower. Cut it up the same way I cut them every time. Once the 4 were inhaled, I placed 4 more waffles into the toaster oven. Prepared the exact same way and eaten the same way. Soooo good. Better than I remembered.

First stack.

Second stack.

Digested and out for an easy 8+ (55:11) miles on my own at 12:30pm. A couple pickups in the middle of the run and a few strides at the end of the run. Pain free. Calves are tender, but recovering well. Pulled up the live feed to watch the finals of the DII National Indoor Championships mile finals. It was 1:30pm (local time). So I was an hour early. Stretched, foam rolled, iced the calves while I watched television. Quick shower, packed a small overnight bag and pulled up the live feed for a 2nd time. Witnessed Ryan tear up the mile to become Runner-Up to the National Champion for his first All-American. Sickkkk!!! Pumped out of my mind and chills running through my entire body.

On the road by 2:45pm to travel over to Haverhil, Mass for the Whirlaway dinner. Met a bunch people (including Dave, the person I had only talked to over the phone), wicked good dinner (beef tenderloin, chicken marsala, mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, and carrots), and a couple presentations/speakers (teammates such as Ruben Sanca's slideshow from the London Olympics). Out of there by 10:15pm to head up to Peterborough, NH to Kimber's apartment for the night.

Bed soon after I arrived.

Officially competing for Whirlaway and will be at New Bedford. Excited to be part of the team and can't wait for future races.

Recover In Progress

March 7th: 6:10am wakeup. 3+ miles (23:30) on my own in the morning. Oatmeal for breakfast. Work 7:45-4:00pm. Busy day all day. Pasta with olive oil and mozzarella cheese for lunch. Pretty weak lunch. No snacks either. Grocery shopping is a necessity tonight.

Home by 4:30pm. Goup and I headed out for an easy 5.5+ (43:09) in the flurrying snow that was kinda annoying. Back to stretch, massage my calves like crazy and pop over to Hannaford's for a few items. Bananas, salsa, milk, Eggo waffles (24 pack of buttermilk), enchiladas (frozen section) and a nice piece of steak.

Enchiladas for dinner. No shower since my sheets haven't been changed in 2-4 month range (if not more) so it's not like it matters. Oh well. Laundry this weekend.

Easy 8 miles. Calves are okay. Just gotta take it one day at a time.

Failure. Fixed itself after I placed a bandaid over it.

March 8th: Slept in. Bowl of Go Lean Cinnamon Crumble. Iced/heated while I ate breakfast. Work 7:30-3:45pm. We aren't allowed overtime so I had to leave by then. Productive day at work. Smoothness.

Snack during work.

Home by 4:10ish. Relaxed. Heated up the calf (mostly one now, but both are being babied with extra massages and whatnot). Out for a relaxing 8.5+ (61:15) in the warmish air. Rocked some half tights, which is always a good thing.

Back by 6:20ish. Stretched, foam rolled, sticked my legs, and pulled up the DII National Live Feed to watch Maggie rip it up in the 800 semis. Saw the Facebook status of Janel becoming National Champion in the pentathlon. Ryan advanced to the finals in the mile. Great motivation to continue to take care of my calves and put in some miles during the weekend.

Throw a steak in the oven. Boiled up some rice. Dinner and television. Bed by 11pm.

Mmmm

Shut It Down

March 6th: 6:20am wakeup. I was gonna do a shakeout, but decided to hop back in bed. A couple eggs for breakfast with mozzarella cheese and hot sauce. Work 7:45am-4pm. Angel hair with spaghetti and meatballs again for lunch. Home by 4:30pm.

I popped onto the couch to relax for a bit. Passed out. Goup woke me up at 5:30pm and I rushed into my room to change up for the workout at the track. The goal for the workout was mile cutdowns with some 400's at the end. 3xmile and 4x400. Half rest. Warmup was solid. 3+ miles (23:46). Beautiful out with some light wind. Lacrosse practice was in session so it was a twlight workout session. Switched into my Nike Streak LTs. Strides felt smooth and ready to roll. 5:01. Jogged off. 4:58. Not so good. The goal times were 5:00, 4:50, then 4:4x. Attempted the last mile and stopped after a 79 first lap. Calves locked up after the first interval, but I thought I could push through the tightness. No dice. Waited in the car for Goup. Goup told me to just drive home (no point in risking anything on just a couple miles after a failed workout) and he would cooldown back to the house.

Foam rolled the crap out of my legs and used the Stick on them until my arms were sore. Iced my legs while I ate a Nature Valley on the couch. Showered, small bowl of Honey Cherrios and bed by 9:30pm.

6 miles on the day and the most important thing is to recover my calf muscles.

Ingrown Hair

March 5th: 6am wakeup. 6:20am out the door for 4 miles (30:54). 3 out of the 4 miles was on trails. Felt amazing. Work 8am-4pm. Angel hair pasta with my mom's homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs for lunch. The last few hours of work was painful because my inner thigh was chaffing from my jeans (or so I thought). I investigated within the confines of my car and found it to be an ingrown hair. Ouch. Home by 4:30pm.

Sat on my computer until Goup got home. Listened to some new music and changed up for a run. Easy 5 with Goup and added on another loop. 7.5+ (56:30) miles. Stretched and foam rolled. Ate a few girlscout cookies before my shower. Showered. Made a protein shake. Ate the rest of my Samoas (courtesy of Kimber) to finish off the box. 10 cookies total. It's a weakness of mine. Mindless eating especially when it's cookies. But so good though. Attempted to work on my ingrown hair, but no success. Some ointment and a bandaid so I won't bother me.

Some television and no dinner. Bed by 9:30pm. Passed out hardcore. I don't remember falling asleep. 11.5 miles on the day and a workout tomorrow. Solid recovery day with some easy miles on the legs.

Stannardly Day

March 4th: 6:30am wakeup. Go Lean Cinnamon Crumble for breakfast. Leftover Mexican food from Friday for lunch still in the container it was packaged in. Work 7:30am-4pm. Busy day with Alyssa on vacation in Saint Martin for the week (wicked jealous). Nonstop day, but a easy Monday.

Back to the apartment by 4:30pm. Out for a run at 5:30pm. Goup was doing a workout during his run so I ran with him for the first 2 miles. 7 miles (49:43) mostly on my own. Back to stretch, foam roll, and shower up.

With the "extra" tomato from the weekend, it worked out perfectly for my 3 egg omelette with mozzarella cheese, ketchup and hot sauce. Some television and bed by 9:30pm. Early night.

Bob, notice the title of the post. It ain't no spelling error.

Start Off Strong (Killington)

March 1st: 6am wakeup. 3+ miles (NT) at 6:20am on my own. Cereal for breakfast. Work 7:30am-4pm. Easy day at work. Kimber was traveling from NH to stay the night. Kimber arrived at 4:30ish. Goup and I headed out for a 2nd run. 5+ miles (35:43) in the brisk air at 5:15pm. Back to stretch, shower, and clean my room up before taking Kimber out for dinner. We decided on La Fiesta right in Clifton Park after an assortment of restaurant researching. Enchildas Supreme and root beer. Delicious. Kimber didn't eat all of her taco salad and quesadillas. Leftovers! Home to relax and head to bed early (actually feel asleep around like 8:30pm until 10pm, Kimber forced me up to get ready for bed).

March 2nd: Slept in until about 9am. Goupil headed down to Mass for a road race early in the morning. I prepared myself for a long run. Mapped out the route, took a swig of Gatorade, ate a plain tortilla for some fuel, and foam rolled. Relaxing run. Nice weather. Windy, but not too cold. 15 miles (1:44:35) on my own. Kimber did a yoga session at the apartment using an app on her new iPad.  Showered up and packed up our stuff for the mini skiing weekend over at Killington ski area with Sarah, Bob and my parents. Protein shake before we left. Packed a couple bars (Nature Valley and Odwalla) in case hungry hit me.

Kimber and I had to drive separate cars because everyone would be heading back to their homes (CT, MA, NH, NY) on Sunday evening. I led the way over to Vermont. We stopped off in Glens Falls for grocery shopping. Picked up items for a salad. Kimber's suggestions were the following: only 2 tomatoes (my 6 seemed like way too much) and lemon (in case people did not want salad dressing). I immediately had questioned on why she was picking out a lemon.

Arrived around 4:30pm at the Best Western condo (3 queens, full kitchen, dining room, living room). Ended up being $40 a person. Chilled for the rest of the night. Bob and I reviewed the trail map for Killington to find the possible "Crush Zones." Salad (Pink Lady apples, avocado, tomatoes, red pepper, cucumber, baby carrots) with balsamic dressing or lemon. Kimber and I cut up the veggies for the salad and served it homestyle (mostly due to the lack of serving dishes). My dad prepared his salad and without any mention about it, asked, "What's the lemon for?" I laughed out loud. We cut up 5 out of 6 tomatoes. Used them all. My family loves tomatoes (we would of been rationing them out if we only got 2). Brownies and mini frozen eclairs for dessert.

Molded my brownie with nuts into a suggestive shape.

March 3rd: 6am wakeup. Rolled around in bed for a few minutes before springing out of bed to get dressed and head to the continental breakfast. Double Belgian waffles with butter, cinnamon sugar, confectioner's sugar and syrup. A couple cups of cranorange juice to wash it all down.

Over to the slopes around 8am. My dad was taking lessons in the morning hours. Amazing conditions and wicked huge mountain. A couple sides to the mountain. Best run was the last one where Bob and I found a wicked sweet trail. Overall a great day. Limted visibility at times, but it was still very scenic. Broke for lunch at 12ish. Double decker PB&J, Red Bull, chips, and the rest of my Clif Bar. Done at 4pm.

Site from a trail towards the top.

Traveled down the road to Charity's Tavern for dinner. Long Trail Blackberry Wheat on tap. Caribbean chicken sandwich. So good. Good times. On the road back to NY by 6:20pm. Smooth ride and home by 8:20pm. No shower and bed at a decent hour.

Classic.

58 miles for the week with a suprisely solid workout, a couple double days, a long run, and a cross training day.

Why I Have A Coach

February 28th: 7am wakeup. Whoa! Gotta get to work for a meeting at 7:30am. No breakfast. Dressed, lunch packed and put the door by 7:09am. Work 7:30am-4pm. Busy all day.

Stopped for gas and swung by the Shen track to see if it was clear. Affirmative. Home to catch up on my blog and run with a clear mind. The workout was mile, 2x800, 4x400. Half rest for everything I asked Goup for goal times. He stated 5 minute pace and to see how I felt.

Beautiful night out. Drove over to the track and brought extra dry layers (fleece pants and pullover) for post workout. Half tights, calf sleeves, hat, gloves, a couple layers on top for warmup. Ended up with 3 light layers on top and no gloves for the workout in the 35ish degree weather. 3+ miles (22+) for a warmup. Switched into the Nike Streak LT (growing attached to them more and more). Tucked in the laces since they became untied in the middle of the workout last week (Goup reminded me at DH Jones, that's what coaches are for). Some strides and a small pep talk to myself to remind me the goal for today and that I just ran a hard 10 mile road race. Cruise and close.

The workout went accordingly: 4:45, 2:19, 2:20, 68, 67, 66, 66. Dang, way better than I thought. 25:11 for the 4.5 miles (5:36 pace). 3 mile (22+) cooldown around the campus and back to car.

Stretched the calves and the mile+ drive back to the apartment. More stretching, foam rolling and coated my steak in some dry rub with salt, pepper and olive oil. Into the oven. Protein shake to hold me over and replenish the fluids/aid muscle recovery. Watched some television and devoure my open-faced steak and cheese sandwiches. Added ranch and the gravy I made from the leftover juices in the pan (added flour to thicken it up).

Shower right before bed. Bed at 10:45pm.

Goup knew to tell me 5 minute pace and not 4:45. If he said 4:45 and I ran 4:50, I would of felt like crap. That's why I have a coach telling me what to do and not do.