One day until Friday! We can do this. Sourabh and I didn't end up making it to the beach on Monday since I had so much studying I needed to get done, but we did go to a nice local park and got amazing Indian food from a local restaurant. I had one of my favorite dishes, baingan bharta (an eggplant stew, basically), and it caused both of us to say "wowww" after tasting it.
Either the beach or a hike this coming weekend is going to be my reward for a good week of studying -- we're heading back to NJ again, just from Friday to Sunday evening. I definitely tried to earn it today, and I'm hoping the next two days will be equally productive!
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| Why does train travel seem so much nicer than air travel? |
Tuesday night, after we got back from Jersey, I celebrated being back in NYC by sweating it out at Uplift Studios with the deceivingly perky Shannon (she seems so nice until OUCH you cannot lift another weight).
This class left me drained, but I loved every sweaty minute of it. Shannon had an awesome playlist that included old school hip hop and a few fantastic throwbacks, like Aqua's "Barbie Girl." This picture is basically a preview of what the lucky winner of my blogiversary giveaway will get: sweat, smiles, and sparkle. Yup, of course I wore a Sparkly Soul headband to Uplift! :)
Speaking of Uplift, I updated yesterday's post on free and discounted fitness around NYC after hearing that they are slashing class prices in half for off-peak class hours through Labor Day. Check out the updated post. If you can make those class times, take advantage of the great deal!
Yesterday morning, less than 12 hours after the class, I met Ashley for a farewell run. She's leaving today for Geneva, Switzerland, where she's been given an amazing work opportunity. I am so excited for her, but I'm sad that she'll be gone! Since marathon training started, we've worked out together several times since our marathons are the same weekend so we matched plans quite often. It was wonderful to have an early morning workout buddy and I'm sad to see her move!
Since she was working from home on her last day, and I had no plans besides studying, I offered to meet her in Gramercy for my 55 minute easy run. We headed west and hit the High Line. We'd planned on going down the West Side Highway, but Ashley proposed we run the High Line. I'd never run it before so I was totally game!
It was totally gorgeous and was such a fun new place to run in New York City! If you can make it down there before 9:00 AM, when the crowds start to arrive, you should. I'd walked it with my mom before, but it's a totally different experience to be running up above the sidewalk, with flowers and foliage at your sides and skyscrapers in your sightline.
After descending from the High Line, we headed toward the West Side Highway run path, logging a few more miles on that route, before turning back towards Chelsea and Gramercy. There was a nice breeze, which always feels like a huge blessing when the humidity is high.
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| Hudson filter for the Hudson River running shot, obvs. |
The run turned into 50:45 minutes instead of the 55 planned minutes. We could have found a few loops to make it 55:00 minutes, but my legs were feeling extremely tired after Tuesday night's totally-awesome-but-totally-kicked-my-ass Strength class at Uplift Studios. The heat was also starting to beat down on us, and since we were right by the delicious Barry's Bootcamp protein shakes, we decided to end early. Yes, cold smoothies made our decision for us. You can't blame me, right, Coach Jess?
OH HEY, speaking of Coach Jess, look whose running coach was featured in Runner's World!!
I feel like a celebrity just for knowing her :) Although this morning I'm doing those hill repeats, so I may be less smiley after those...
Red Mango Giveaway Winners!
Temperatures on the East Coast continue to be absolutely sweltering, so I'm pleased to announce the three lucky winners of $25 in fro yo and smoothies Red Mango! They are...
What do you do when you lose a training partner? What are your hot weather training tips? Am I going to survive hill repeats???
I try to either run late at night when the humidity has settled down or early morning. Also, I bring a water, run to somewhere where I can fill it up, and keep going. That always helps. And yes, you will survive hill repeats :)
ReplyDeleteI survived!! Thanks for the vote of confidence :)
DeleteYAYY and cute pictures! awesome job runnin
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the froyo!
DeleteMy training partner/crazy race buddy is pregnant (but totally still running and planning on NYC marathon 6 weeks prior to her due date!!) I'm actually much much more of a solo runner but it is sad that due to her new living situation its pretty tough to link up ever.
ReplyDeleteThis cycle though I am much more structured with paces/distances that running solo for the most part is necessary.
And hot weather running...super early or late (says the girl who keeps going mid day for long runs :)
Wow that's incredible! Best of luck to her! That's the drawback of a structured plan. I love it but need it to match up with someone or I'm alone!
DeleteRunning on the High Line is absolutely gorgeous! And you're right: the earlier you can get there, the better. I'm a morning exerciser anyway, so waking up to run and beat the heat isn't a problem for me. A lot of my coworkers will wait until the evening to run, though.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't that hot today and running in the evening felt tough. I'm really impressed they train any time after, say, 8am!
DeleteI like that you refer to a 50 minute run as 'easy'. I get to three miles and am done. Good for you.
ReplyDeleteHaha that was me only a year ago! The "easy" refers to pace, though. Believe me, 5 miles in 80+ degree heat and 80%+ humidity is never easy. But I feel very lucky to have the ability to train for a marathon, so I never want to complain!!
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