Week 2 - NYC Marathon Training

Living in NYC, you see a lot of crazy. I’m hyper-sensitive to other people in the summertime, because the subways and streets seem even more crowded than usual. I’ve observed a few things recently that annoy me and I would like to get them off my chest.

Several times recently, I’ve seen people get on an elevator, walk to the back of it, and then just as the door is about to close say, “Can you press 4?” Even if you’re distracted, what is the first thing you do when you walk into an elevator? Do you not to immediately press the button of what floor you’re going to? Are these people just lazy? You should be in control of your own schedule. I am not going to be at your disposal in every other transportation mode you take throughout the day. Riding an elevator should be the easiest part of your day.

Also, I find it really annoying when people ask me the address for a place. JUST. GOOGLE. IT. I don’t understand. Not only will you have a better sense of where the address is if you look it up, but it will also avoid all follow-up questions that are likely to ensue (What is it on the corner of? How do I get there?). Maybe people just really trust my judgment, or they are old school and don’t automatically go to Google for their everyday questions. Either way, trust me when I say that asking for the address of a place is a waste of both of our times. (Please note that this anger brews almost entirely at work. Mom and Dad, still feel free to ask me for an address anytime you like. You are both the exception to this rule because you are very sweet and nice).

LOOK AT ALL THIS INFO GOOGLE GIVES YOU.

Sorry to unload all that on you first thing. It’s just that the NYC summer heat can cause irrational behavior that I am very sensitive to. And I am perhaps a victim of.

On a high note, Week 2 was a good week!

Monday: 3 Miles

I did a slow, easy run after work. My joints have been a little achey, I think from going to running 4 days a week. My body is still adjusting to marathon training, so I’m taking it nice and easy.

Tuesday: 2 Miles

I was supposed to do 4, but cut it short because my muscles were still achey. I took the less is more approach because it is so early in training, and figured I would make up the miles later in the week.

Wednesday: Rest

I watched a lot of Orange is the new Black and knitted.

Thursday: 3 Miles

I did these miles in the gym – I started off with 10 minutes of the stair stepper to warm up, and then switched to the treadmill. It was great to get a true warm-up in, because my muscles were ready to go by the time I got on the treadmill.

Friday: Rest

I went home for the weekend, and got some shopping and TLC in on Friday. Can I just express my immense love for malls in the suburbs? I do a lot of my shopping online now, because I just can’t stand the lines and crowds at stores in the city. But I went to the mall by my house and I had so much room to peruse! No lines for the waiting room, no one bumping into me in the sales section. It was just me and my credit card.

Needed approval from my sister that this was cute.

My mall got fancy with an Apple store while I've been in NYC.
And I only see two people. So nice.

Which is real?

Saturday: 7 Miles

I was out the door early for 7 miles on my favorite path at home. It was so peaceful, and I smiled the entire way. My dad joined me with his bike for the last half, which always makes the run go by in a flash.

My happy place.

This is my absolute favorite place to run. I used to play soccer here as a kid, and I usually climb and jump over the fence, and run diagonally across the field. It almost takes me back to soccer and Capri Suns.

I went to the beach after the run, which I had been looking forward to all summer. I got some freckles, read my book, and got a healthy dosage of jersey shore trash crazies.

Sunday: 2 Miles

I made up those miles! I told you I would. Slow and steady.

I got back to Brooklyn mid-day, went for my quick run, got some groceries, and then went gang-busters in my apartment. I have a few storage bins that I keep random “essentials” in (Christmas decorations, my Spanglish DVD). I’ve been meaning to go through them, as well as re-arrange my bookshelf. There were far too many books on my shelf, but I think “cool” bookshelves are supposed to have a mix of books you haven’t read and cool trinkets.

It was a success! I went through all my books and made some tough decisions. I put aside a bunch to donate, kept the ones I want to read on my bookshelf, and placed the rest back in a bin (I just can’t part with all of the books I read in college. They make me feel scholarly). I cleaned and re-arranged my bookshelf, my crowning jewel in my apartment.

Do you see all my trinkets?

All in all, a pretty perfect weekend. My legs were definitely sore Sunday afternoon, but I’ve rarely done 5 days of running in one week during training. I’m continuing to take my own advice of taking my increasing my mileage and pace slowly, and I'm really looking forward to each run. 

How to: Build a Bookcase

Today’s Workout: 3 Miles on Treadmill at 1.0 incline, 10 minutes elliptical

Health Check: My quads are still a bit sore, and I noticed earlier in the week that my right knee bugged me if I was sitting for too long. My calves feel much better than they did on Monday, and I feel healthy overall!

Week 1! Marathon training! Yay! Not supposed to be the week of a new pain (feel free to skip the next few paragraphs if you want to avoid me talking about my knee, and want to get the incredibly interesting subject of this blog post).

As I just mentioned, my knee was bugging me a tiny bit earlier in the week. If I kept my legs in the same position at my desk for too long, it would hurt once I moved it (the pitfalls of an office job). I’ve never had a knee injury before this, so I found it disconcerting. I think it’s due to a combination of running three days in a row (which I hardly ever do), trying to change my running form, and building a bookcase (more on my carpentry skills in a minute).

I took Wednesday off from any exercise to make sure I gave my body a rest, and I was supposed to do a 5 mile run at MGP today. Instead, I did a 3 mile treadmill run at a very comfortable pace, and 10 minutes on the elliptical to make sure I didn’t hurt my knee any further. I’m planning on making up the other two miles hopefully tomorrow, and get some more cross-training in to strengthen my muscles.

I’m feeling unsettled about modifying my plan so early on in my training schedule, but instead of pushing myself today, I wanted to prevent injury. My incredible logic seems to be working since my knee feels loads better.

But I’m not going to focus on it anymore! I’m going to channel positive energy and get back on track to my training plan. End rant.

After going to Brimfield last weekend, I was inspired to spruce up my apartment a bit. My mom sent me this AWESOME link to “Flea Market Chic” inspirations, and I was thinking up all the ways to decorate my massive 400 sq ft apartment.

So I went back here:

CONTAINER STORE I LOVE YOU

Originally, I was planning on picking up two shelves so I could begin adding a bit more flair to one of my walls, and then I saw a really cool bookcase out of the corner of my eye. My book situation has been pretty dismal since I moved in (last OCTOBER, I might add) – they were all stuffed into old Steve Madden shoe boxes, wasting away. So as it usually happens in the Container Store, I decided that I just had to have it.

Do you see how they make you think you need this?

When I picked it up from the checkout, the cashier was a bit wary to send me on my way with it.

“How are you getting home?” Asked the friendly sales person.

“The subway.” I said matter-of-factly.

“Oh yeah?” She said, without concealing her doubt.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I probably should have just waited to pick this up with a car or taken a cab home:

It still remains a mystery how I carried this all the way from 16^th and 6^th to Greenpoint. It was about 40 pounds and in the most awkward box to carry.

But I was determined when I finally made it home, and got to work on building this behemoth.

As a gal living in her first studio apartment, I’ve never really had to assemble furniture before. Basically everything except my couch I inherited stole from my parents, and the only heavy lifting I did for my couch involved me picking up a pen to sign a receipt.

So if you also fall in the novice category for carpentry and heavy lifting, here are some helpful “how-to” reminders for building your first bookcase:

1.      Be in a calm mood

2.      Build it in a cool room (or at least not during a heat wave as I did)

3.      Have a good toolbox

4.      Keep cold beer in your fridge

I began building, and slowly started to realize what a big project it was going to be.

After several f* bombs and water breaks, I managed to almost put the whole thing together. Let me just say that those Lowe’s commercials of happy couples doing projects in their first homes are BIG FAT LIES. 

Show me a couple that can put together a bookcase and not yell at each other, and I will show you a couple on Xanax. It was not fun and I luckily did have cold beer in the fridge to decompress afterwards.

Yuengling can fix anything.

I came home last night determined to put the finishing touches on it, which included drilling a hole into my brick wall. I utilized eHow.com, which explained that all you needed was a drill and safety goggles. I did not have safety goggles, but I did have patience. I surprisingly  did have fun drilling into my first wall, and had a LOT more fun finally putting my dusty books and trinkets on my bookcase.

Look at all my pretty books!
I need more trinkets.

I feel quite accomplished for building this whole thing without my brawny boyfriend (though he offered to help! I think I saved us from a massive fight by doing it alone). I finished with one blister and a sense of independence.

A New Obsession

In the reality of New York City, where square footage has a depressingly inverted relationship with rent, space is precious.

So to maximize my expensive space, I finally stopped in to the Container Store fully intending to go crazy.

Second only to Target, the Container Store is the kind of place where you feel compelled to purchase absolutely everything in sight (I DO need a rotating Bamboo tray for my spices... Now that I think about it, owning a paper towel holder would make my life so much easier).

Doesn't this make you feel so calm and happy?
No? Just me?

I went in meaning to buy a shoe rack for my dismal shoe situation, and a utensil organizer for my kitchen drawer (I moved into my apartment in October and I still did not have a utensil organizer. My forks have been mixing with the likes of knives and spoons, and wine openers were canoodling with potato chip clips. It's been disastrous). But when I got in there, I had a tough time choosing how I wanted to spend my benjamins.

I thankfully did at least walk out with the items I set out to buy. I went with the mahogany shoe rack, because it clearly suits my personal style:

Downside upside to buying a shoe rack - organizing your shoes and realizing how badly you need to go shopping. And finding that pair of shoes you literally never wore, and put in the back of your closet because you felt too guilty donating them.

Sinkside lookin' fresh with the paper towel holder

And perhaps my favorite purchase - the bamboo rotating rack (official name). It's fun AND practical - gone are the days when I accidentally use a dash of ground red pepper instead of cinnamon!

So all in all, a successful trip. And a lighter wallet.

You have more free time to worry about organizing your kitchen drawers when you're in taper-mode. In 3 days, I will be running the Brooklyn Half-Marathon. I'm taking tomorrow and Friday off from any exercise, and made sure to squeeze in my three scheduled runs in the beginning of the week.

Although pretty low-mileage, my runs didn't feel as great this week. I don't know if my legs are sore from last week's higher mileage, or if I'm just not getting in as many carbs as I should be. I really and truly did not feel like doing my tempo run last night, but I went, and ended up making out okay:

Today, I was able to get out of bed before work to do my last run before the race. My body was not feeling up to it at all (not sure whether it was because I did a tempo run just 12 hours earlier, or whether it was the white wine drinking the night before). But it ended up being okay too I guess.

Now for the important question: race-day wardrobe. What to wear?

I got a sweet Nike tank that I am surely going to wear, as well as my neon yellow headband. I have to decide if I'm feeling gutsy enough to wear my LuluLemon shorts, or to stick to comfort and wear my running capris. I'll see how the mood strikes me at 5:00AM Saturday morning.

My favorite running friends and I are carbing up together on Friday night at Jillian's apartment, and I am stoked. I believe gnocchi and garlic knots are in order. I also want to make sure I am really hydrated for the race, so I can enjoy spending post-race with my parents and Keith who will be waiting at the finish line for me. Talking about it all is getting me really excited for what is sure to be a fun and tough race!

Now I'm going to go organize my sock drawer.