Night Run

November 2nd: 6:30am wakeup. Bowl of oatmeal for breakfast (instant packets because I am lazy and that's one of the only items I am stocked up on). Burrito mix made for lunch. Big serving and I brought the remainder of the cheese (mozzarella and cheddar) and the last of the Newman's salsa medium heat. Work 8am-4:30pm. Afternoon was spent training one of my co-workers on tool sign-offs. Productive day and he was very appreciative.

Home by 5pm. No rush to get out the door so Goupil and I sat around until 6:45ish. Run at 7pm. 6.5 miles (44:24) while Goupil added on some more. Can never go wrong with a night run. Just you and the road (and cars zipping by you, but we had reflective vests and a blinking light attached to it for safety).

Some burrito mix and television movies (I forget which ones we were watching). Bed by 11pm. Goal is some cleaning over the weekend.

Oh, and it happened again. Notice in the top right. Different person I was playing. HM? Words With Friends is making me question life sometimes.

Nitty Gritty

November 1st: 6:30am wakeup. Egg sandwich with a couple slices of the 3 pepper Colby jack cheddar cheese and ketchup for breakfast. Off to work for 8am-4:30pm. Just another day at work. Leftovers with a spin for lunch. Added mozzarella cheese and some peppercorn ranching dressing. Mmm. Sorta messy to eat, but tasty.

Home by 5pm. Oatmeal as a snack because I was starving. Goupil was a sleepy panda so he took a nap for like 45 minutes. Run at 6:30pm. 5 miles (35:39) in the dark. Chilly so we wore a bunch of layers. Good run. Back to stretch, foam roll, and change up for the gym. Short gym session.

Back to the apartment to immediately make a burger for dinner. Ciabatta roll, peppercorn ranch, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, and Colby Jack cheddar cheese. Perfect combo. Burger seasoned with an assortment of flavors. So good.

Some television and bed by 11pm.

A good day of recovery and a wonderful day of eating. Everything counts from diet to the strength training at the gym. As Wilson Perez would say, "[It's the nitty gritty that you need to do.]" (Paraphrasing, but he loves using the word nitty gritty).

First Workout Back

October 31st: 6:15am wakeup. Finished off the cereal for breakfast with the possibly questionable milk (no grocery shopping in the agenda either). Made a quesadilla with peppers, onions and some avocado. Carpool again to work. Work 8am-4:30pm. Easy day. Kinda slow week overall with our manager out.

Home to change up, empty myself, and head down to UAlbany. Goupil and I hoping a couple other of our teammates were in for the tempo run around campus. Bailed. No biggie. Goupil and I did a 3 mile warmup (20 + strides). Out to the State Offices for a inner/outer loop and a 800 finish on the track. 6.3 miles - 36:26 (2:28 finish). 1++ mile cooldown (9:16). 10+ miles on the day. Smooth progression run in the dark. Reflective vests were utilized. Though, they did not prevent a car from not moving over a lane as it passed us multiple times. Pathetic. He/She definitely saw us and just chose to not move over.

Out to TGIF's with a big group and a ridiculously good time. Too funny all around. Loaded baked potato skins (2000+ calories) for appetizer and Korean steak tacos (1000+ calories). Gave away one potato skin. Saved a 1.5 tacos for lunch the next day. Home by 9:45pm. Bed by 10:30pm.

Solid day with a quality workout. Breathing slightly labored because it is the first workout back, but the legs felt good.

"Iz" Is Not A Word

October 30th: 6:30am wakeup. Cereal for breakfast. With lunch already made (finishing off the homemade meatballs with homemade spaghetti sauce) and with the lack of groceries (snacks especially), I filled a small ziploc bag with raisins. Work 8am-4:30pm. Carpooled with Goupil.

Home to poop (all the spaghetti sauce, meatballs, and sausage did a number on me) and get ready for a run quickly to with Derrick at 5:15pm. 7 miles (45:44). Smooth and always entertaining to run with Derrick.

Back to foam roll, stretch, and make a protein shake. Goupil and I changed up for the gym. We both walk out of our rooms with the ING Hartford Marathon pullover on. Goupil instantly changed because I technically was wearing it first. It happens.

Gym for some major lifting. We put in a solid 30-40 minutes of circuit training and we are good to go.

Home to make dinner. Not. I told myself I would, but I made a protein shake instead. Watched the New Girl.

Bed by 10ish without a shower because I can be that lazy.

Good run. The thing I am not happy about is something that occurred in Words With Friends. I will let the screenshots of the two games explain itself.

Close Call Followed By A Long Day

October 29th: 4:30am wakeup. Packed up the car and on the road by 5:10ish. Smooth sailing in the darkness until I had to get off exit 7 to head onto I-90 W. I thought it was a double exit (so it would be exit 7-8 and the exit forks), but it was not. I proceeded to exit 8 and slammed on my brakes immediately. My ABS worked like a charm. In front of me, a car perpendicular to the offramp and the front end smashed up with the guardrail in fairly bad condition as well. I stopped in time and threw it in reverse to park on the side of the highway. Put on the hazard lights and waited for the police to arrive at the scene. Good deed of the day. Early morning (still dark) and slick roads are a bad combination.

Jetted down to exit 7 (which was the next exit) and continued on with my ride with extra extra caution. Arrived at work right before 8am. Slow morning. Oatmeal for a snack because I had chocolate covered donettes and a water for breakfast at like 5:45am. Leftover spaghetti, sauce, meatball and turkey sausage for lunch.

Home by 4:30pm. Straight to the couch to relax. Took a nap around 6pm. Out for a 4+ miler (28:20) at 7:15pm. Hurricane? Pshhh. No rain, no wind, and an enjoyable night run. Back to stretch, foam roll, and have more leftovers (angel hair pasta with the homemade sauce, meatballs and sausage). Saved some for lunch the following day because I haven't gone grocery shopping (aka minimal food in the house).

Bed by 10:30pm.

Happy I made it out the door for a run with the weather pending the whole day.

Giants Baby!

October 28th: 8:30am wakeup. Changed up for a run. Used the bathroom to empty myself out from the heavy eating from the night before. Out for a 10 mile loop (65:41) around the side neighborhoods of Leominster. Friggin scenic run and pretty hilly the whole way. Run felt smooth and another beautiful day out. Even a view at around 8ish miles of Leominster.

Back to have a protein shake and decide where to go to get my Sunday lifting in. Sarah was taking the day off completely from any exercise after he Insanity, run, and yard work combo yesterday. Bob was looking to hit up the gym. We were gonna go to the private gym that Bob and Sarah belong to (gym only allow guests on Friday, weirdos). Ding ding ding! Idea popped into Sarah's head. There is a Planet Fitness in Leominster. I have the black card membership (any location) and that allows me to bring a guest on any day. Boom! Problem solved. Bob and I lifted while Sarah grocery shopped (pumpkins and food).

Home by 2pm to make some food (a terrible attempt at a omelette due to the quality of the frying pan I used, but still tasted delicious) and carve pumpkins. Fed Tucker some pumpkin because Sarah said it's supposed to be helpful to a dog's digestive track.

Quick shower to head over to Bob's dad's house for dinner and the Giants. Homemade spaghetti sauce, homemade stromboli, and other delicious treats. Chilled and watched the Giants win (too close of a game when it shouldn't have been).

Swung by Walmart on the way home to grab candles for our pumpkins and pick up Horrible Bosses on Blu-Ray. Home to light our pumpkins, snap some pictures and watch the movie. Grabbed my laundry out of the dryer and headed to bed by 12am.

10 miles on the day and 37 miles for the week as a recovery week. Smooth week with a couple solid runs. No aches or pains, which is the best part of it all.

Raw Fish? Why Not?

October 27th: 10am wakeup. Amazing to sleep in and on a double bed to sprawl out everywhere. Changed up for a run and ate some candy (one of my weaknesses) while stretching/warming up. Sarah, Tucker (dog), and I ran a small loop together. I continued on for another 4+ miles. 7 miles total. My 4.25 miles was cruised in 26:59. Not bad. 6:20 pace. Felt good. Beautiful weather out so I couldn't complain at all.

Back to the house to stretch, foam roll, and change up for some yard work. Pancakes and scrambled eggs with cheese and ham mixed in. Fueled up for the 4 hours of yard work. Before any real work started, I took a major digger with the wheelbarrow. Basically, I turned too sharply with it and the wheelbarrow stayed in one spot while I gracefully flipped over it. Laid on the ground for a solid 5 minutes in pain. My sister thought I was okay initially until she saw some of the scraps on my legs and arms. Once I was okay and moving, she laughed. It's all good. Moved most of the wood chip pile from the driveway over to the spot in the woods. Done by 4pm. Chilled and surfed the net.

Showered up and changed up for dinner with my cousins, Aunt Eileen and Uncle David from Texas. My cousins (Sarah and Hannah) go to school in Massachusetts. Their parents were up for parents weekend and to see the sights. Over to Worcester for sushi and good times. It was crazy to see everyone and catch up on everything (it had been too long). I even tried some sushi and liked it. Not my top choice for food still, but I'd have it again. I ordered the chicken teriyaki with vegetable tempura and a legit ice cream scoop of rice.

Drove over to a frozen yogurt place in Leominster and pigged out. Well, I mostly did. Bob made the mistake of not having a theme when making his self-serve fro-yo with toppings. He mixed mango with chocolate for yogurt flavors. That was just the beginning. Next, he added toppings in no rhyme, right, or reason. If he liked it, it was being scooped and poured onto his concoction. Once all said and done, he noted that everything was delicious except for the peanut butter syrup he put on at the end of the toppings line. The pictures will show the tragedy and my masterpiece of chocolate.

Home to relax, watch some television and head to bed by 11ish or so.

To Leominster

October 26th: 6am wakeup. 3 mile (22:30) run in the dark. Back to eat a bowl of cereal and pack a lunch. Shower. Work 7:30-3:45pm.

Home to pack up and head over to Leominster, MA. Left at 4:30pm. Arrived by 7:30 with any problems. Leftovers with Sarah and Bob. Threw in a load of laundry. Watched some television.

Feel asleep on the couch and made my way to the guest bedroom by 2am.

The best part of the week occurred yesterday afternoon. I received my oversized package from running house with all my new kicks. Over the past week, I have bought 9 pairs of shoes (running, racing and casual) for myself (and two pairs for my sisters). A bunch of solid deals and nothing not on sale.

I ventured over to the office to pick up Goupil's package and mine as well. I hadn't even made it into the door (finishing up a phone conversation with Kimber right outside the front door) and the two packages were sitting on the table. It was like Christmas! Goupil and I opened them up together. We proceeded to try on every single pair we bought. Below is the inventory. I know it's pathetic, but all of them will be going to great use. A couple pairs of Sanuks (most comfortable shoe ever), a few pairs of Sauconys (tempo and trainers), Nike Lunarflys (trainers), Nike Streaks (replacement from the marathon), Nike Victory (for the mile/3k), and Nike Frees (bright green and ridiculously baller).

More Sore 2 Days After

October 25th: 6:35am wakeup. Cereal and made the lunch. Same deal. Finished off the chipotle chicken for a sandwich. No hot pepper rings because I just didn't feel like it. Work 7:30-4pm. Quality day of work.

Home to relax and run 5+ miles (34:13). Smooth run through Evergreen. Back to stretch, foam roll and add a few layers for the gym.

I don't have any normal basketball/gym/knee length shorts so I have to wear sweatpants for the time being to Planet Fitness. Lifting (and the way we do our circuit lifting/exercises) builds up some major heat in a short time. Before we even started, my pecs were sore to the touch and I knew this because Goup poked me right in the "chicken wing." I think I shed a tear, but luckily that was in the comfort of my own apartment. Gotta start somewhere. This is the first true lifting regime so it will be a new experience for sure. Ain't nothing wrong with that.

Home to shower and eat a burrito. Some television and bed by 11pm.

Gotta Splurge Every Once In A While

October 24th: 6:30am wakeup. Bowl of cereal for breakfast. Work 7:30-4pm. Easy day with a delicious lunch once again. Chipotle chicken and the 3 pepper Colby jack cheese. Mayo and peppercorn ranch dressing. Hot pepper rings. Snacks.

Home to relax for a bit before making out way down to Albany for the normal Wednesday evening. 5 miles (35:13) and the legs felt great. Could of done more, but 5 miles is what the day called for.

Over to the 99 Restaurant for dinner with coach Dick, Josh and Goup. Appetizers, dinner AND dessert. Outrageous potato skins, turkey burger with guacamole and salsa, and then the towering midnight fudge cake. It was a calculated 2720 calories. Boom. 46 bucks + tip between Goup and I. Always a good time with the guys especially coach.

Home to shower and hit the hay soon after.