Weekend Snapshots & Running Updates

Alternately titled … Olympics all day, every day.

Scott and I are complete 2016 Olympic Games junkies. We spent the majority of our time this weekend watching the Opening Ceremonies and then event after event with our friends downstairs, Shawn and Hillary. Women’s Gymnastics is always my favorite event, but Swimming and Beach Volleyball are awfully intriguing to me this year, too. Go Team USA!

Fun fact … Scott actually worked the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. We had only been dating for about eight months back then, but I remember being so proud of him when he left to go overseas for three weeks. I thought it was so cool!

While most of our weekend involved sitting on the couch while watching amazing athletes work it out, we did manage to get outside for some fresh air from time to time. I went on a lot of walks around the neighborhood, always with Roadie, and sometimes with Scott, too.

The more we get to explore, the more I fall for our neighborhood in Park Slope. I sent this photo on our way to the park to some friends in Houston the other day, and they said that it looks like a scene straight out of Sesame Street! Haha, I guess it does.

We’ve been living in New York for about four months now. We still have a lot more work to do on our apartment, but I’d definitely say that we have settled in nicely.

One of my favorite highlights from the weekend is finally setting out on a “long” run through the park without Roadie. I love taking him with me, but it’s been ages since I’ve actually pushed myself to run at a steady pace without stopping every few minutes. (This is impossible to do with him, since he’s always super curious to sniff all the things.)

I shared a similar photo on Instagram, but I wanted to mention this run here, too.

I could wander off into an entire post on the subject, but I’ll try to keep it as short as possible. It’s been a long time since I have really tried to push myself on a run, which is the main reason why I haven’t signed up for races in what seems like forever. Have you noticed?

This is not because I don’t enjoy running like I used to, or even the challenge of training for a long distance race. I’ve backed off from training over the last (almost) two years now to help our chances of conceiving. In a nutshell, I can tell that my body gets stressed from running 8+ miles. It’s also easy for my weight to drop when I’m deep into training, so it’s not really worth it to me right now.

I could sign up to run shorter distances like 10Ks or 5Ks, but I always end up trying to push myself on my time when that happens. In the end, I just get stressed out over whether I’m stressing my body out too much, and it’s just a mess. Again, not a priority right now.

That said, I’ll leave that there and move on to say that I’m really starting to miss running like I used to. As a compromise, I have made a decision to run as long as I feel like it, but at a slower pace. Do I miss challenging myself and running long distances? Absolutely. Will I sign up to run shorter races anytime soon? It’s not likely, but never say never.

For now, all I’m planning on is sticking to my plan to enjoy running at a slower, steadier pace.

Please note, however, that this does not mean that I think those who decide to train for marathons and keep up their normal fitness activities while trying to conceive aren’t doing it the right way. In fact, most doctors encourage you to do so. This is simply a personal choice I made after running my last half marathon in November 2014, and I will feel much more comfortable pushing my body back to racing shape in the future, (hopefully) post-baby.

Right now, my goal with running is to get back to completing 10K distances (6.2 miles) without stopping, and so far I’ve gotten to about 4 miles. All in due time.

(My distance and time on Saturday after the jog home and a few breaks.)

So, there you go.

On Sunday, Scott and I joined our friends and their kids for a friendly bowling match at an alley in the neighborhood. I totally surprised everyone (including myself) when I won the round with a score of 119!

I spent most of the afternoon ordering pantry items and essentials online. (Stay tuned for my NYC budgeting strategies coming soon!) and organizing things that have been stacking up on our countertops like mail, receipts, and recipes.

After getting the idea to do so for months, I finally started a recipe notebook where I can hole punch and store recipes that I’ve saved or printed to try. I definitely want to keep and repeat some of the recipes that I’ve made lately!

Shawn and Hillary invited us over to watch the Olympics later that night, so I offered to bring dinner, thanks to a delivery from Blue Apron earlier that day. I was pretty excited to make the seared chicken & fettuccine pasta (pictured above and below).

It was so good!

As noted earlier, we pretty much spent the rest of our time home watching the Olympics. The games stay on so late, but we have to watch them! Right? Anyone else?

 

Weekly Workouts

(August 1st – 7th, 2016)

Here’s what the latest week of workouts looked like for me! You can always find more in-depth workout ideas and plans on the Weekly Workouts page.

 

• Monday – REST
• Tuesday – 4 mile park run with Roadie
• Wednesday – 30-Minute Sayonara Cellulite Workout via POPSUGAR (love the cardio and foam rolling segments!)
• Thursday – Total Body Strength Tabata Workout
• Friday – REST
• Saturday – 4.5 mile run around the park
• Sunday – REST

 

Thoughts …

I’m starting to miss having access to a gym on a regular basis. As much as I love group fitness classes and bouncing around the City trying new things, I’m starting to long for the days where I could just to jump on a cardio machine and knock out a strength circuit on machines or with dumbbells whenever I wanted.

While I’ve been actively searching and interviewing for full-time jobs in marketing and social media, I’m starting to wonder if I should return to my fitness routes again. Hmmm.

All over the place, much?

I bet following the blog this year has been entertaining. What will I do next? Nobody knows. Ha. Not even me! I’m not exactly sure what daily life will look like in the next few months for us, but I can say that I really appreciate your readership and support during it all. You guys are the best.

This week I want to aim to add arms and/or abs workouts to my running days and challenge myself to go for more miles. Slow and steady, of course. 😉

 

Thanks for checking in!

 

» Linking these Weekend Snapshots up with Erin and Katie

 

Questions of the Day

• What type of workout have you been loving lately?

• Have you been watching the Olympics? What is your favorite sport?