Friday Free-For-All (Seven)

Welcome to Friday Free-For-All, where I talk about everything and anything on my mind.  Sometimes it even makes sense!

I bought my first running skirt, and I’m kind of in love.  It’s by Reebok, and while it’s a little shorter than I might like (it barely covers my tush), the built in shorts make sure I don’t feel like I’m flashing my butt to everyone I run past.  And of course, it hides the dreaded chub rub and camel toe.  The only thing that’s weird is that the sole pocket is upside down on my leg.  I can’t figure it out.  My only guess is that maybe this is actually a tennis skirt, and the pocket is to hold an extra ball?  Anyone know what’s up with this?

Seriously, what is this pocket?

I got a haircut this week.  I’ve been growing out the pixie for months, and while I was finally exiting the super awkward phase, my hair was starting to do this crazy Farrah Fawcett-esque flip that I was so not into (you may have seen this on Twitter/Instagram).  While the cut looks fab, I’m a little upset because he pretty much took off all the length I managed to gain over the last 6 months.  Sadpanda.  No more haircuts for a while.

Vermont Brewer’s Festival is this weekend!  I’ve been legally able to drink for 8 years, but I’ve never made it to Brew Fest.  This year, tickets sold out in 11 minutes, but I was lucky enough to score 2 for me and Ben.  I’m very excited to try lots of tasty, Vermont-made beer!

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Beat the Blerch virtual race. The actual race sold out in a matter of minutes, so they are now offering a virtual option for $45.  This is super cool, except for the fact that they’re only offering registration for SEVEN DAYS.  I don’t have an extra $45 lying around right now, and I don’t want to put it on my overused credit card.  Maybe I’ll change my mind before July 22…

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Tigger Two-fer:  Remember when I won the Tigger award at work?  And got an oh-so-fuzzy stuffed Tigger?  And took him on adventures?  Well, as the result of my efforts on a special project, I GET TO KEEP TIGGER FOR ANOTHER MONTH!  Woo!  It’s basically my mission to keep winning this award so I can keep him forever.

Pretty much how I feel about Tigger

That’s all for me, friends!  I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Running skirts:  yay or nay?

Tell me about the worst haircut you’ve ever had.

Oh, Beer!

This weekend was the Great International Beer Festival in Providence, RI.  Ben and I have attended the last 2 years with our friends Deanna and Eric, so this year makes 3 straight years.  Woo!  I know this has been mostly a running blog, but I figure there have got to be other running beer lovers like me out there.  Amiright?

To start things off on the right foot, I went for my long run on Saturday morning–7.1 miles.  Another distance record, baby, yeah!  And the crazy thing is, if I’d had my hydration belt like I was supposed to (d’oh!), I probably could have gone longer.  Half Marathon, here I come!  Anyway, then it was stretch, roll, shower, and hit the road!  I got a breakfast sammie at Dunks and we picked up our buddy Pete, who was road tripping down with us.

Any way you want it!

We dropped Pete off in Arlington and got to our friends’ place in Mansfield, MA at about 2:30.  We spent some quality catch-up time together, then hopped in the car for the half hour-ish drive to Providence.  We went to Luxe Burger Bar for dinner.  You can build your own burger, and they have about 6 different burger options, 4 different bun options, endless toppings, sauces, and cheese stuffed tater tots.  Holy delish!  Unfortunately, Luxe was having an off night–lots of drunken jerks who had obviously caught the early session of the brewer’s fest, and some major diva action from other patrons.  We ate quickly and headed on over to the beer fest.

Sadly, it seemed like many fewer breweries were taking part this year–a couple of notable absences were Brooklyn Brewery, which is one of our favorites who has been there in past years, and Foolproof, which is actually a Rhode Island brewery.  Weird.  Apparently there was a craft brew festival happening in Boston this weekend too, so maybe that explains it.

Regardless, some of our favorites were there, including Lagunitas.  They are a CA brewery and I have never had a beer from them I didn’t like.  My favorite of their samples was the Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale, but their regular Lagunitas IPA is one of my all-time favorite beers.  After many, many samples and some really unique finds (grapefruit Shandy by Traveller and a Ginger beer called Crabbies by Six Point), we decided to head home much earlier than usual.

Me, Ben, Eric, and Deanna in front. Don’t be jealous of my selfie skills.

Deanna and I napped in the car, and on the way home was stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Best. Idea. Ever.  I was pleasantly buzzed but not sloppy, but I switched to water when we got home anyway.  I chugged 2 16 oz bottles while we played the board game Quelf (ridiculous and fun with the right group of people).  We ended up going to bed around 12:30 because Ben fell asleep watching TV.

On Sunday morning, we slept in a bit, then hit the Cafe on the Common in Mansfield for brunch.  We didn’t have to wait for a table, and the place was very cute.  Great staff, amazing food, and good prices.  I got the Fenway Omelet, which has sausage, mozzarella, peppers and onions, with an English muffin and sinfully good homefries.  Then it was back in the car.  We picked Pete up in Arlington and hit the road.

The real bonus was that we stopped at the LL Bean Outlet in Concord, NH, and I scored a pair of flip-flops for $9.99 and two pairs of Smart Wool running socks for $7.99 a piece—that’s less than half price, guys!  Seriously, if you live near Concord, you should check it out.  They didn’t have a huge selection of running socks in Medium, but I just got two pairs of the same color.  Total win.

It was a jam-packed weekend, and I had a wonderful time.  It was awesome to see Deanna and Eric, and even though the Brew Fest had a few disappointments, it’s hard to be upset about sampling dozens of tasty beers and spending time with your friends.  Now I’m just hoping we can score tickets for the Vermont Brew Fest in July–tickets typically sell out within hours!

Have you ever been to a brew fest?  What’s your favorite beer?

 

Manic Monday – 04/14/14

Good morning, and welcome to Manic Monday, where I give a recap of the previous week and lay out some goals and intentions for the upcoming week.  Unfortunately, this past week didn’t go as planned.  Between Ben being sick and me thinking I was sick but really just suffering from intense seasonal allergies, I skipped a couple of work outs, but I still managed my long run.  I really need to get my cross-training days in so I don’t hurt myself.  I would like to be incorporating yoga into the mix, but I can’t afford to spend $15 a week on classes right now.  I may download the Nike Training Club app, because I believe it has some yoga workouts.

Monday:  This was supposed to be a cross-training day, but Ben had a really bad cold and I don’t like lifting by myself, so I did hills and speed work, woo!  I warmed up with a mile on incline 0.2 at 6 mph, then alternated 30 seconds at 8 mph and 1 minute at 6 mph on a 0.2 incline 6 times, then walked for 5 minutes at 4.3 mph on a 4.0 incline, and cooled down with 3 minutes of walking.  I was a sweaty beast by the end!  I finished up with 2 minutes of plank and plank variations.  I also walked the 2 miles to work.

Tuesday:  I went out for a quick 3 miles, and ended up with 2.9 miles in 26.33.  For me, that’s super quick!  I’m pretty psyched because I am now feeling fairly confident that I can get a sub-30 minute 5k next weekend at Light the Night.  Woohoo!  I also walked 2 miles to work in the morning.

Wednesday:  Other than walking the 2 miles to work, I took a rest day.  I wasn’t feeling so hot, so I cancelled my Ladies’ Night plans and stayed home in my PJs, watching the Walking Dead and drinking lot s of fluids.  I was in bed by 10!

Thursday:  I walked to and from work, for a total of 4 miles, but other than that, I didn’t do a workout.  Today was supposed to be 4 miles, but since I still wasn’t feeling well, I took the night off.  I wanted to make sure I’m 100% for my long run on Saturday morning and the Brewer’s Festival Saturday night.

Friday:  Another rest day other than walking to work.  My sinuses were killing me–itchy, watery eyes, stuffiness, runny nose… I thought I got what Ben had at first, but by this point I was convinced it was allergies.  I took some Nyquil and went to bed at 9.

Saturday:  We were up and at ’em at 6, because I had to  squeeze in my long run before driving down to MA and RI for the brew fest.  7.1 miles went by surprisingly fast.  Unfortunately, I forgot my new hydration belt (womp womp), but even so, I felt pretty dang good at the end.  I was tired, but I think if I’d had water and some fuel, I could have gone longer.  Starting to feel like a “real” runner here, folks!  Saturday night was the Great International Brewer’s Festival in Providence (full post on that tomorrow!).

Sunday:  We slept in at our friends’ house, went out for brunch, and then drove home.  Then it was meal planning, grocery shopping, and out for drinks with my bestie, Krissy, who lives in San Fran, but was in town for the weekend.

This morning I am definitely feeling the effects of a weekend of excess–not enough sleep, too much greasy food, and too much booze have left me groggy and a little queasy.  I’m hoping to get back on track this week.

Goals for the Upcoming Week:

• Get back on track with healthy eating.  We’ve planned out our meals and done the shopping, so if we just stick to the plan, this shouldn’t be too hard
• Incorporate more cross-training to stay strong and injury-free.  I’ve been hitting the miles really hard, but not hitting the gym.  It may be challenging getting to the gym from here on out because the weather is getting nicer, so I need to make use of other resources like the Nike Training Club app or yoga classes, or playing pick-up sports with friends.
• Get caught up on sleep.  We’ll see about this.  Today I can see myself going to bed before 10, but you never know what’s going to come up.
• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!  I need to purge the system after this weekend.  It was wonderful and I don’t regret any of it for a second, but I just feel yucky.

Did you have a nice weekend?  What are you hoping to accomplish this week?

Friday Randomness

Anybody else feel like this today?  It’s been a long week, and between Ben being sick and me being sick, I’m ready to be done.  Thankfully, Friday is breakfast day at work, and Sally, our Southern girl, really outdid herself this morning.  I don’t even know what most of this is, but it’s all delicious.

Mmmm carbs

Last night I went to see Lyric Theatre’s Les Miserables.  Lyric is the largest community theater organization in New England.  It’s also the first community theater in Vermont to get the rights to produce Les Mis.  It’s also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.  So it’s kind of a big deal all around.  I know TONS of people involved with the show, onstage and off, so it felt great to go out and support my friends.  And honestly, it was a wonderful production!  I was nervous because I sometimes have trouble forgetting I’m watching a show when people I know are in it, but that wasn’t a problem at all last night–I laughed, I cried, and I was totally inspired to get back into theater.  You probably don’t know this, but that’s what I went to school for, and I have been performing on stage since I was 9 years old.  It’s a huge time commitment, but there is nothing like the camaraderie of putting on a show, and no feeling quite like a standing ovation.

I’m still feeling a bit under the weather, but since I’ve taken a couple of days off workouts, and I’m not feeling any worse, I’m going to go for it with my long run tomorrow–7 miles!  I can’t believe I’m going to run 7 miles.  I finally got my foam roller and hydration belt, so I’m excited to try them out.

In other news, being a runner is turning me into even more of a hypochondriac than I already am.  Every twinge or tweak, every cramp or spasm has me wondering if I’ve got plantar fasciitis or ITBS.  Having never really been an athlete or had a sports-related injury, I don’t know how to tell what are just normal aches and pains and what might be more serious.  I’m just trying to take it easy and not over-do it, because I really don’t want to be side-lined by an injury.

Lastly, I have decided that I will no longer be posting on the weekends.  I’ve been posting pretty much 7 days a week since I started this blog, and it’s just too much.  Weekends are usually incredibly busy for us, and posting just for the sake of posting isn’t helpful to me or you.  I try to keep this blog positive and interesting, so posting crap content isn’t what I want to do.  That being said, there will be no more Sunday Summaries; instead, we will have Manic Mondays, where I recap the previous week and lay out a plan for the upcoming week.

And with that bombshell, I leave you.  We’re headed to the Great American Brewer’s Festival in Providence, RI this weekend, and I couldn’t be more excited!  50 craft brewers, all in one place = my happy place.

Happy Friday all!