Summer Ending.

A ugust was almost over. The first cool touch of autumn moved slowly through the town and there was a softening and the first gradual burning fever of color in every tree, a faint flush and coloring in the hills, and the color of lions in the wheat field. Now the pattern of days was familiar and repeated like a penman beautifully inscribing again and again, in practice, a series of l's and w's and m's, day after day the line repeated in delicate rills.

Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury

Training Tuesdays: 08.30.11.

Respect the long run. And by long run, I mean any run over 5 miles. Actually, just respect the run.

Because of the hurricane (my second weather emergency last week), our long run was switched to Saturday. Now, I am nothing if not a routine-oriented person. I have my pre-run routine down pat, and it starts at about 5pm the evening before a long run with a salad and a large bowl of spaghetti with Classico Tomato & Basil sauce. I drink a ton of water, try to go to sleep early and get up at 5am the next morning to have enough time for coffee, food and travel to our starting point. Because we ran on Saturday, I wasn't able to follow my pre-run ritual. I was still at work at 5pm, not eating my pasta dinner. And then I went to happy hour and drank beer. I ate dinner late that night, stayed up reading until 1am and could barely drag myself out of bed at 5:15am. I was late leaving the house and couldn't find the parking lot we were supposed to meet. By the time I figured out where our starting point was, it was 6:55am, and the group was already at least 20 minutes ahead of me.

What I should have done was take off at my normal GAD pace, catch the group on their way back and just deal with having run a shorter distance than planned. What I did do was run the first 7 miles at 30-60 seconds/mile faster than my normal pace and completely skip walking water breaks. I caught up to my group right as they were turning around, meaning I would be able to do the entire distance. Meaning I was terrified that I was going to bonk at some point on the way back.

And you know what? I didn't. The run went fine. Because of this little exercise in what not to do I have realized that I am probably in the best shape of my life. Sure, my 15-miler was a little more challenging than some of my other runs, but it was by no means my worst run.

So here's to keeping up with my training schedule, despite my life being much busier now. Here's to going to sleep early the night before long runs. Here's to hydrating with water and smoothies and chocolate milk. I love the long run. I love the run.

This is my running schedule for the rest of the week:

Happy Weekend: Work Week One Done.

My first week at my new job was exciting, a little overwhelming and totally engaging. I know I will accumulate a lot of papers, books, and reports over the coming months, but for now my office is nice and tidy. Bare, even. Here are some prints I would love to hang on my walls.

But enough about work...it's the weekend!

Wearing: To Work (Part 3).

This is where it gets easy. Dresses. Add shoes and you're done. Ok, few other accessories are nice. But for today, here are all the dresses and all the shoes I would like to stock my closet with this fall.

J. Crew, J. Crew, Banana Republic, Banana Republic (sold out?)
Zara, Zara, Zara, Zara
Asos, Asos, Asos, Anthropologie

Payless, Urban Outfitters, Urban Outfitters
Ann Taylor, Ralph Lauren
H&M, Zara, Zara
H&M, Old Navy
Payless, Old Navy

Clearly, right now I am looking for shoes to add to my work wardrobe, but it is nice to also include some flats and boots for weekends and evenings. And to wear on the way to work. You don't think I actually walk to the Metro in heels, do you?

I love how just switching to a different pair of shoes can instantly take an outfit from work-appropriate to date-appropriate or weekend-appropriate.

Wearing: To Work (Part 2).

I love skirts, but I have always had a hard time figuring out how to wear them - what color and style shirt to wear, what shoes, how to accessorize. So I put together an inspiration board of skirts and blouses that paired well together.

tops: J. Crew, Zara, Zara, Old Navy
skirts: J. Crew, Asos, H&M, Old Navy

Boring, right? So I paired these skirt and blouse combinations with shoes and accessories to create completed looks.

House of Harlow necklace, Asos clutch, Zara wedges

Tolani scarf, Dogeared necklace, H&M heels

Zara beaded collar, Asos belt, Asos clutch, Ralph Lauren heels

Anthropologie necklace, Zara handbag, Michael Kors watch, Zara wedges

I am really trying to build a wardrobe of classic, timeless pieces - the Michael Kors watch, green city handbag, the perfect A-line skirt - but I am just loving some of the more creative, bold accessories this fall. I have had my eye on the House of Harlow necklace for over a year. And I almost fainted when I saw the beaded collar at Zara. What a piece of art. Same with the Anthro necklace...and priced like a piece of art too!

Training Tuesdays: 08.23.11.

OOH-RAH! 20 MILES!

This run felt great. I was even able to sprint out the last quarter mile with one of the coaches. Not my regular pace coach - he would surely have yelled at me for that. Even though my quads were screaming, it was fantastic to have the energy at the end of the run to finish strong. The coach I ran the last 10 miles with mentioned running these longest of the long runs at GAD pace - Go All Day pace. Being out on the trail for so long will improve endurance and prepare you for the marathon. Sometimes I feel like I am training at such a slow pace, and I wonder if I will be able to run the race at the faster pace I envisioned. I think I might be able to, but right now I am trying to balance my enjoyment of the day with my ideal time goal.

When I was training for my last marathon, I had a disastrous 20-miler. To make matters worse, it was our only 20-miler of the training schedule and it was three weeks before the marathon. When I started this marathon training program, I was concerned about the high weekly mileage and number of long long runs, including three 20-milers. Now, I realize that doing so many very long runs will make me feel comfortable and confident in my ability to complete the marathon. Even if one of my other 20s go terribly wrong, I can look back on this run and know that I am capable of doing the distance.

Since running 20 miles at a time and over 40 miles in one week allows someone the right to eat anything they damn well please, this is also a great time to talk about post-run nutrition. This is my go-to post-run meal (although I switched it up slightly this week):

I usually drink a big glass of ice-cold chocolate milk, which studies have found to be an excellent recovery drink because it contains a good balance of protein, carbs and fat. I drink it because it's chocolate milk and chocolate milk is awesome. I usually grab a cup of Greek yogurt with honey (more protein and carbs) and a bowl of cereal. This week, we broke in our new blender with some smoothies. I threw in some frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries, a banana, vanilla soy milk, flaxseed and OJ. Yum. I'm hooked.

Enough talk of food (this may be the one and only time I ever say that), this is  my running schedule for this week:

Wearing: To Work (Part 1).

This past week, I felt the first crisp in the morning air, reminding me that autumn will be here before I know it. And I'm okay with that. I love autumn. Falling leaves. College football. Sweaters. This time of year also reminds me of starting the new academic year. And back-to-school shopping. I always loved looking for both new clothes and new school supplies.

So since I am starting my new job tomorrow, and in the tradition of back-to-school shopping, I've put together inspiration boards of my favorite (back-to-)work items. For late-summer and early-fall, I am loving blouses and cropped pants with heels. Here are some work-appropriate outfits I created out of stores' new arrivals for fall.

tops: Asos, Zara, Asos, Zara
trousers: J. Crew, J. Crew, Asos, Asos (similar)
heels: Ann Taylor, Zara, Ralph Lauren, H&M

Happy Weekend: 90 Years.

How do you sum up the life of an incredible woman, mother, grandmother, and friend in 15 minutes? It's impossible. But I did my best to show the incredible impact my Bobchi has had on the lives of everyone who knows her. This project also gave me the opportunity to marvel in hundreds and hundreds of family photographs, some from the 1920s, some from this past summer.

Today.

Today, I'm feeling a little like Charles looks in this webcam picture I took yesterday - sleepy, relaxed and not moving all too fast (or at all).

I have some ideas for blog posts, but something getting posted will depend on when or whether or not I:

1. get my laundry done
2. unpack from vacation
3. finish the current chapter in my library book
4. meal plan for next week and make a grocery shopping list
5. get to Target to buy toilet paper (and $200 in other items I don't need or intend to purchase - stationery, a new top, nail polish, a blender, etc.)
6. check off the other 20 items on my to do list

Wanted: Blue Velvet Sofa.

A few months ago, I was furniture shopping with a friend who is redecorating her living room, when we saw this:

And it stopped us in our tracks. Both of us stood in the doorway of the store, slack-jawed, staring at this beautiful sofa. My friend jolted me out of my daze when she mumbled, "I want to swim in that sofa."

These pictures clearly don't do it justice. It is a beautiful, sleek, blue velvet sofa. The blue isn't too deep, isn't too bright, is almost cobalt, but a little more navy than cobalt. It is perfect. I dream of this sofa in my living room. And I dream of this sofa in the living room of the house or condo I hope to one day own. In my dreams, I would pair it with either the classic Eames recliner or this gorgeous, butterscotch-colored, leather chair and ottoman (or both). While we're at it, I'd also add this reclaimed wood and iron coffee table from Home Decorators Collection and some inky, hand-blocked pillows from West Elm.

Training Tuesdays: 08.16.11.

Ugh. This is what last week's training schedule ended up looking like:

After slogging through 11 total miles in the Florida heat and humidity, and feeling, if not great, then at least okay, I got taken out by a nasty sinus infection. I woke up on Friday morning with a screaming sore throat (and skipped my planned 7-miler) and just got worse and worse and worse over the weekend. I hung in there for our 6:30am flight back north on Saturday, but started dying a little in the two hour car ride into Pennsylvania to pick the Charlie up from my parents/dogsitters. In a bout of frustration, discomfort and pain, I made the excellent decision to take a generic Nyquil-type drug purchased at a Love's truck stop, then spent the next 16 hours hallucinating in a drug-induced coma. I woke up at 5:30am Sunday, thinking that it would be about the time I would be getting ready for my long run, which this week was starting at the Metro station next to where I live. At 6:35, I started hearing noise outside, and walked to our deck to see the pace groups running down my street, only a few hundred feet into an 18-miler. I was bummed. But I was also congested, nauseous and woozy from the last traces of truck stop Nyquil. I stretched out on the couch, read a book until I fell back asleep, and felt fine about missing the run.

Today, I am feeling much much better. Still not 100%, but good enough to try to get a little jog in. I put in a total of six miles, five running, on the treadmill this morning: 2.5 miles at 10:40 pace, 0.5 mile walking, 2.5 at 10:30 pace, 0.5 walking. It didn't feel great, but I'm happy to have done it. I'm hoping I'll be well enough to continue with my planned weekly training schedule. Which is:

Since I've been feeling less than stellar, I'm going to save any talk of food and post-run nutrition for next week. For now, I'm going to go snug up on the couch with a good library book.

Week(end)s Recap: Birthdays & Beach Days.

These last ten days have been all about family. An ideal way to spend the end of summer, if you ask me.

Two weekends ago, we took a short trip up to New Jersey to celebrate my Bobchi's 90th birthday. We threw her a surprise party with all her friends. She was sure surprised. About an hour into the party, her (octogenarian) baby brother also showed up. I love her reaction to seeing him walk through the door.

My aunt made her an incredible topsy-turvy cake decorated with all the things she loves: flowers, cards, birds, baseballs, and the initials of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchild.

My niece was the life of the party and entertained my grandmother's friends all afternoon.

Right after our weekend in New Jersey, we caught a plane to Florida for some more family time, this time with my in-laws. It had been over nine months since we had last seen my husband's family, and these five days together were just what we needed.

We stayed in this beautiful beach-front house in Carillon Beach.

Drank our morning coffee while delighting in this view.

Spent plenty of time enjoying each others' company, eating family dinners, assembling puzzles, and battling undertow together.

At the end of every day, we would sit on our back porch, watch the sun set over the ocean, and think about how lucky we are to have each other

Favorite Beaches: Tybee Island, Georgia.

Two weeks after we started dating hubs and I took a weekend trip to Tybee Island. We spent one day touring Tybee and Little Tybee by kayak with Savannah Canoe and Kayak, found sand dollars on empty beaches and had dolphins swim next to us as we paddled through the marsh grass. It couldn't have been a better two-week-iversary.

So there you have it...my top five favorite beaches. Whether because of their natural beauty, exciting activities or company, these are five places that hold a special place in my heart: Oak Island, Fort Walton Beach, Cannon Beach, the beaches of St. Lucia, and Tybee Island.

Is it blasphemous for a Jersey girl to list her favorite beaches and not include the Jersey shore?

Favorite Beaches: St. Lucia Edition.

I can't narrow it down to one. We had a two-week trip of a lifetime to St. Lucia in February 2010. Hubs volunteered at the hospital in Vieux Fort (temporarily located in the Olympic cricket stadium after the hospital was destroyed in a fire the previous September) for 10 days, and then we spent a week traveling around the island. St. Lucia is beautiful and colorful and relaxing.

Sandy Beach, the beach in Vieux Fort where I spend all my time during the first week (while hubs was treating kiddos and delivering babies) was fantastic. It is a destination for kiteboarders and kitesurfers, but also has bright blue-green water and the perfect little beach-side restaurant, The Reef, where we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.

Our home base during the second half of the trip was La Haut Plantation. I cannot recommend this bed and breakfast enough. It was amazing, the location couldn't be beat, the food at the restaurant was the best we had during our entire trip and the staff were helpful and super sweet. Oh, and this was the view from our room.

Just down the hill from La Haut, before you enter the city of Soufriere, is a small road that leads to Anse Chastanet Beach. I think this may be my favorite beach we visited in St. Lucia, although it was more crowded than the others because of it's proximity to the Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountain Resorts. The snorkeling was unbelievable.

One day we took a drive way down off the main road to visit Jalousie Beach. The amazing thing about this beach is that it is right between the two pitons. I snapped only a couple pictures before we decided to take shelter from the wind. This was a total exposure goof, and is one of my all-time favorite photographs.

Favorite Beaches: Cannon Beach, Oregon.

"Hey you guyyyyssss!"

Many scenes from The Goonies were filmed in this part of Oregon. You can see Cannon Beach in the background of these screengrabs (via), recognizable because of Haystack Rock, a 232-foot sea stack that is accessible during low tide.

The Oregon coast is one of the most naturally beautiful places I have ever been.

And look at these starfish!

The water is colder than a witch's (ahem) bosom, but there is plenty to do other than swim.

"Bye, Willy. Thanks."

Training Tuesdays: 08.09.11.

After back-to-back 16 and 17-milers, 13.1 was quite nice. But, let me tell you, it was humid. Like running through pea soup humid. I thought I would get some reprieve from the heat and humidity running up in New Jersey, but no.ton drank a ton of water during this run, and, as much I sweat, I wished I had brought Gatorade too. Which brings me to this week's discussion about nutrition.

During runs longer than about 5 miles, I bring water with me. If I'm doing less than 8 miles I have a handheld Amphipod bottle, but for longer runs, I use this Amphipod fuel belt. I bought extra bottles for the belt too, and have used up to 4 bottles at once. Of course, the more bottles I add to the belt, the more it jiggles and bounces around, so I prefer to keep 2 bottles plus a pouch for gels, tissues and my keys. If it is a particularly long, hot and humid run, I usually fill 2 bottles with water and one with Lemon-Lime Gatorade. This is the only flavor of Gatorade I drink because I know it doesn't make my stomach do funny things during my run. I also drink it because all of the races I have run have used Lemon-Lime Gatorade.

Gels. Some people hate 'em. I've hated 'em and now I love 'em. Because I found the right ones. I have tried a lot of chews, beans, bars, gels, etc., and what works for me in Hammer Gel is Espresso and Vanilla flavors and Honey Stingers in Ginsting. The Espresso Hammer and Ginsting both have caffeine, so they give me an extra boost during an especially difficult run. More importantly, these gels all taste good (or, if not good, not bad either). The espresso and vanilla flavors are mild and not overly sweet and the Honey Stingers taste like honey. Another reason I prefer gels over other foods is because I think they are easier to take during runs. I usually just swish and swig some water right after I eat one and I'm good to go. Find what works best for you in terms of taste and texture. I tried about 5 different brands of gels at the beginning of this training program, during the short runs in case they made me feel ill, and these were my favorites. But different strokes for different folks. Find what works for you.

I'll be doing my weekday runs at the beach this week - flat, but hot and humid (although I'm used to that weather at this point, eh?). Luckily we'll be back for the 18-miler on Sunday, so I don't have to try to fight through this one alone. This is my running schedule for the rest of the week: