St Patrick's Day Run

It's a perfect day for a run today! I'm so glad I got out there to take advantage of it. I woke up at 5:45am expecting to take my time and leave the apartment around 6:30, when the sun was starting to come out. It was stil dark at 6:30, then Woody got home from the gym and I didn't get out until 7am. Good thing I don't have to be at an office by any particular time!

Without even thinking about it, I dressed for the day

Run Recap:

• Route: 5 mile loop - start at E72nd entrance, end at the Boathouse
• Time: ? didn't time it, just ran
• Temperature: 47* start to end
• Overheard: a Bagpiper practicing on 5th Ave near 90th St. Now, I wouldn't necessarily buy tickets to a Bagpipe concert, but I do love the sound of them and I think it's amazing how beautiful they can sound in the hands of talented musicians.
• Sight only seen on St. Patrick's Day: A man in his 50's riding his bike to work(?) with his long hair, beard and bushy eyebrows dyed neon green.
• Families who play together....: A Dad and his four children laughing while commuting to school on kick scooters (I saw them last week as well, and the Mom was with them too). A couple getting in their morning run pushing their toddler son, bundled up in a running stroller. I love seeing families being physically active together like this!
• Countless mud covered dogs running all over the park enjoying the weather while their owners congregated in large groups sipping countless cups of coffee.
• My one gripe: I am S.L.O.W.! I can't seem to pick up my speed, but truthfully I haven't tried too hard either. In 2008 I set my 4mi PR at 31:59. But last year, my fastest 4mi race came in at 35:54. While I got my mileage in last year training for the marathon, I did not push my speed. After my somewhat serious surgery in January '09, it took me about 4 months before I could start running again, and then I was terrified to push too hard. Truthfully, I was scared that I would be running by myself and something would happen and I'd end up lying on the side of the street without anyone to help me. So, I took the safe route and didn't push my speed at all. Now, I'm paying for it. My legs just won't turn over quickly at all. While I'm not concerned about my time for the half in April, it would be nice to gain a little bit of my speed back. I really need to put my fears behind me, stopping being lazy, deal with the pain and add speed workouts back into my training.

Overall, it was a great run and I love being outside! I no longer have any motivation issues when it comes to running!!

Rewinding to yesterday.... I discovered something aboslutely fantastic! I don't know how I've missed out on this for almost 6 years! After having coffee on the UWS with a friend yesterday morning I stopped by Fairway Market to pick up some yogurt and other goodies before making my way back across town. If you don't know, upstairs is the Fairway Cafe as well as an sections for organic foods and vitamins/supplements. The vitamins/supplements are up some stairs and hidden off to the side, is the biggest bulk foods section I've found so far in the city, and definitely uptown!

The pictures aren't great, but you get the point! So much stuff!! Granola, beans, nuts, dried fruits, grains of all sorts, snacks, chocolate covered fruit and nuts, all sorts of fantastic goodies. And the prices are pretty good, too. I am definitely taking Woody back with me and if you like buying bulk (definitely helps cut food costs), then I suggest you make a trip here. I just recommend that it not be part of a Sunday afternoon excursion. The place is a madhouse then! Here are the goodies I came home with:

Barley, quinoa, long grain brown rice, pistachios, brazil nuts

I added some pistachios into my breakfast - delicious.

I'll be heading down to midtown later today to watch the St. Patrick's Day Parade from a friends office. This is the first time I'm able to see the parade, and it's the best weather they've had in years!! How are you celebrating the holiday?

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Workout Stats:

5 mile run

3x10 bench push-ups

3x10 tri-cep dips

stretching