16 Miles + The Butler

This weekend, I got back on track with my marathon training schedule and relaxed with Christopher.

On Friday, I just relaxed. It was much needed after all of my recent traveling.

On Saturday, I set out to run 16 miles as a part of my training for the fast approaching NYC Marathon. I started out by heading to Central Park and running the big loop there. Next, I headed over to the east side and ran the Queensboro Bridge. This bridge will pop up at mile 17 during the actual marathon so it was nice to get some practice running it. It's a beast though! I finished up the 16 miles by heading back over to the West side with a small detour in the park along the way.

After the run, I headed over to the grocery to stock up on food since I had pretty much depleted my fridge before all my recent travels. By the time I got back to my apartment, I was exhausted. I showered and rested for a couple hours before Chris arrived. We had a calm and low key night with homemade dinner and Netflix watching!

On Sunday, I was up early to complete my short run before we headed to church. After church, we had a Groupon date! We headed down to the East Village to S'Mac - YUM!!

It was delicious! I had the All-American which was a perfect blend of American and Cheddar cheeses! Totally hit the carb-loading spot :) Chris had the Napoletana - like pizza with Mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, and fresh basil.

After lunch, we ran a few quick errands and then headed over to see The Butler in Union Square. It was a very good movie. Definitely some tough parts to watch, but well made and had just the right amount of humor throughout.

The only bummer was that after we got home and googled the film, we learned that it was only loosely based on the actual story. Many of the more touching and moving aspects of the film weren't a part of the actual butler's real life. That was pretty disappointing, but I understand why the filmmaker was interested in presenting the story in the manner it was shown. I would definitely recommend watching it!

I capped off the weekend by heading into work to monitor the Sunday night game. As my luck would have it there was an hour rain delay just before the second quarter began. Ugh! Definitely made for a long game.

Can't believe it's already Monday! How was your weekend?

Andrea :)

Marathon Training - Halfway Done!

I'm back from vacation! I'll be sure to share all of the excitement with you as soon as I organize all my pictures! But for now, I'm fully emersed in my marathon training...and I'm halfway done! It's hard to believe that it is getting so close, but with each week I am feeling more and more prepared to conquer the beast that is the NYC Marathon! As a result of my busy travel schedule, I've been doing training runs all over the country world :) Here are some pictures from the first half of my training runs...

The very first run of my training happened to be when I was in Kentucky to meet my new nephew, Landon. It was fun to have some company on this short three mile run. Especially such cute company! I love my little niece, Brinley!

I managed another short training run in the heat of an NYC day. Not just any day though...my 30th birthday!

In early August, we traveled to Pittsburgh to visit friends. I was scheduled to run 10 miles, but timing allowed for a great eight miles around a beautiful lake at North Park instead.

I've completed several runs in Albany over the course of training, but this particular day I had the company of a couple of friends for 10 long miles at the Corning Perserve. It might have been 9.5, but we started a little late and it was getting really warm. It felt pretty good though. We kept a steady pace the whole time.

As our trip to Europe approached, I became a little concerned about how I'd fit all the runs in while we were gone. Fortunately, I had been able to stick pretty strickly to the schedule up until we left so I didn't want to get too far away from it, but I also didn't want to stress out about getting every run in while we were away. Enter the park at Burton on Trent literally three minutes from Chris' cousin's house.

I did several runs at this park. It was essentially a roughly one mile loop around the lake so it got a little mundane, but it worked! Prior to the trip, my longest training run had been 12 miles. During the course of the trip, I was scheduled for a 14 mile run which I ended up having to cut in half, but I did make all of the other scheduled runs that first week. The second week was a little different as we were traveling more, but we did a few walking tours and my first run after returning to the States felt good so I'm guessing I didn't get myself too off track while I was away!

The weekend after we returned from our trip, I headed off to a bachlorette party at the finger lakes. (I'll be recapping that fun soon as well!) I was able to sneak in a short run there. Just moments after I took this picture two deer ran right in front of me on the path. Scared me to death!

The next day, I was scheduled for 16 miles, but since I wanted to watch at least some of the Bengals game (so disappointing) AND didn't want to miss my train back to the city I was only able to manage a 10 miler in Albany. It was good to ease my way back into the higher mileage though.

Overall, I think the first half of the training has gone well especially considering a fourth of it was spent in Europe! I'm going to attempt the 16 miler this weekend to get me back on track...and I feel pretty positive about it. One change I am making to the second half of the training is adding in a boot camp class one day a week. My work is offering them for free on Mondays for the next month so I gave it a shot and my Tuesday run seemed fine afterward. I mean, I was am still a little sore, but I think the extra strength building exercises are helpful. Now, if I can only make it through the second half of the training I'll be in business!!

Andrea :)

Vacation...across the pond!

Chris and I are so excited to be away on vacation! Yay!!

 

 

We have been relaxing in the Midlands of England for the past few days where I am meeting much of Chris' extended family.  We have a few more days here before we begin a week of whirlwind travel.

Once we leave the Midlands, we head to Bulgaria for one of my college roommate's wedding.  After a couple of days there, we will be headed to London.  Chris is taking me to see Wicked on the West End and we will be meeting a few more of his relatives there.  We have one day trip planned for Brussels before we head back to the States.  Should be an exciting adventure...and I can't wait to update you on all the fun when we return!!

 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Andrea :)

30 before 30: Final Review

When I made my 30 before 30 list just after my 29th birthday, I wasn't sure exactly how much progress I would be able to make on it in just one year's time.  Roughly a month after my 30th birthday, I must admit I am super proud of all the items I was able to mark off the list.  I am a firm believer in writing goals down and telling others about them being two of the most vital pieces to actually achieving them.  I think my progress on the list is a great example.  I really enjoyed pushing myself on some of these items.  And I loved putting together the monthly recaps for the items that were recurring from month to month.  I loved it so much that I wanted to do one last final review of each item...mostly as a reflection for myself to be honest!  So...here we go!

1 - read 12 books: 1) The Water Giver 2) Breaking Back 3) Four Perfect Pebbles 4) Gone Girl 5) Eat, Pray, Love 6) The Time Keeper 7) Semi-Sweet 8) Mind Gym 9) Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead 10) Before Ever After 11) A Friend Like Henry 12) 102 Minutes

2 - attend football games in (at least) 2 new stadiums: 1) Ravens (9.27.12) 2) Panthers (11.11.12) 3) Falcons (11.29.12)

3 - complete Year 2 (done March 2013) and Year 3 scrapbooks (layout done June 2013)

*I haven't technically finished this one, but most of the work is done!

4 - prepare (at least) 10 new dinner meals: 1) sliders and tator tots 2) ham and sweet potatoes 3) grilled cheese and soup 4) loaded baked potatoes 5) cheeseburger pasta 6) penne alla vodka with chicken and broccoli 7) roast beef and carrots in crock pot 8) turkey bacon pizza 9) french toast 10) pumpkin alfredo ravioli

5 - don't eat at any fast food restaurants for 30 straight days (done 10.11.12 to 11.9.12)

6 - go to (at least) 6 broadway shows: 1) War Horse (July 2012) 2) Grace (Nov 2012) 3) Annie (March 2013) 4) Lucky Guy (April 2013) 5) The Call (May 2013) 6) Cinderella (June 2013)

7 - send one letter a month to friends/family

8 - visit England with Chris (might happen in the fall, but at least have reservations by July)

*We leave TONIGHT!!  So excited for the adventure!!

9 - read through the entire Bible

*This one was a MAJOR fail.  I started and had great intentions, but I did not follow through.  It is also on my bucket list so I will continue to work on making this one a reality.

10 - complete a couple's study with Chris (began The 5 Love Languages study in Spring 2013)

 *We are only about halfway through the book so far.  June and July were super busy travel months for us, but we plan to finish it soon.

11 - sort through clothes/shoes and make donation (done Aug 2012)

12 - blog more frequently - participate in more challenges, giveaways, etc.

13 - be able to comfortably run an 11-min mile at a 10k event

*This one was also a MAJOR fail.  Somehow instead of getting faster, I think I have gotten slower...boo :(  Regardless, I am still running so I guess it isn't a total loss.

14 - run (at least) one half marathon (signed up for one, but it got cancelled...boo!)

*To be honest, I was pretty upset about this one.  I looked far and wide to find a half marathon that fit with my travel schedule for this summer and was pumped when I found one in Pittsburgh - where we have lots of friends.  I was so bummed when it got canceled.

15 - visit friends in Chicago

16 - visit friends in DC

17 - plan a really interesting/exciting/fun way to celebrate turning 30

18 - purchase (or receive as a gift!!!) Spanish Rosetta Stone and begin a journey to fluency

19 - give Brinley a unique 1st birthday gift

20 - work on being more assertive and confronting issues/people when I feel I've been wronged

21 - set 3 goals each month and work diligently to accomplish them

22 - sign up for improv classes

*So Chris and I attended a one day class in August, but I am still planning to do a 6-8 week classes...sometime soon.

23 - watch all the Best Picture nominees prior to the Oscars: Reviews - Part 1 and Part 2 and My Picks

24 - FaceTime with Brinley (at least) twice a month - hope her parents are on board :)

25 - make better use of Twitter (follow me - @alhadventures)

26 - explore (at least) 6 new places/areas in NYC - 1) West 4th Street area 2) downtown courthouse area 3) Williamsburg (Brooklyn Brewery) 4) Dumbo (Smorgasburg) 5) Brooklyn Botanical Garden 6) Greenwich Village (Barrow Street Theater)

27 - plan (at least) one fun date night each month

28 - try (at least) 6 new foods: 1) meatloaf 2) asparagus and artichoke ricotta ravioli 3) homemade cranberry sauce 4) salad 5) split pea soup 6) white pizza

29 - join Instagram (done August 2012 - username: alhadventures)

30 - enjoy (at least) one girls' night each month

Andrea :)

Wedding Fun + Saratoga Race Track

 

This weekend, I visited Christopher in Albany for the first time in a few months.  We've been away for most of the weekends this summer!

On Friday, we went to a wedding at the gorgeous Canfield Casino in Saratoga.  We had fun dancing to the live band, but we didn't stay too late because I am getting deeper into my marathon training so my weekend runs are super long now.

On Saturday, I ran 10 miles at the Corning Perserve.  It was a great day for a long run.  The weather was almost perfect for pretty much the whole time.  My legs felt pretty tired afterward, but we kept about a 12 minute mile pace which is an improvement from my last long run so I must be doing something right with all these runs each week.

Saturday night, we met up with my Aunt Mildred for dinner.  We went to this great new place in Schenectady - Johnny's.  The food was delicious and very filling!  And the dessert was amazing!  I had the gelato cake, but everyone else got the cheesecake.  Very tasty!!

On Sunday, we went back to Saratoga for some fun at the track.  Neither of us won too much, but we had a good time just spending some time together. 

 

 

Race 8 was the only race where I won anything.  I had horse 7 to show and it won!  I ended up winning $2.60 out of it.  Not great, but I'll take it!

How was your weekend??

Andrea :)

Improv Class + Fruitvale Station

 

This weekend, I enjoyed a relaxing couple days with Christopher. We didn't have too much on the schedule which is unusual for us.

On Saturday, I started the day with a 12 mile run.  Not exactly how I typically start out my Saturdays so needless to say, I was pretty tired after 2+ hours of running.  I took a nap and just relaxed while I waited for Chris to arrive.  He got here just in time for our dinner reservations at one of our favorite places - Arrirang!  We love hibachi!!  It was delicious!

On Sunday, I did a 4 mile run (much more my range!) before we headed over to our improv class at Chicago City Limits.  The class ended up being rather small so we were able to get lots of opportunities to play fun improv games.  We had a great time!!

After the class, we were starving so we stopped for some pizza at Two Boots.  I had a groupon from there that we hadn't used yet so we ended up only paying 50 cents for our yummy pizza pie - so good!!

We had a little time after our late lunch before our movie started so we played some games at Dave and Buster's for awhile.  Chris beat me at basketball...this time...but we both dominated at Deal or No Deal.  We love games and are both competitive so Dave and Buster's is a great spot for us!

 

The movie we saw was Fruitvale Station.  If you haven't heard about the movie yet, it is based on a true story of Oscar Grant, who was killed by a BART police officer just a few years ago in the bay area.  The film follows Oscar's final 24 hours.  It won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and is well made.  I would suggest checking it out, but be warned that it is most definitely a drama.  The story is truly unbelievable.

What did you do this weekend?  Anything fun?

 

Andrea :)

Book #12 - 102 Minutes

Happy Friday!! Hope you all have fun plans for the weekend! I am excited to be reviewing the final book in my 30 before 30 list...especially since I really enjoyed reading it!

Intially, I wasn't sure what to expect from 102 Minutes, but from the first page of the book, I was hooked! The book covers the 102 minutes between when the World Trade Towers were struck by planes to their untimate fall. I have watched documentaries and read stories before about individuals that overslept that day and were late to work or that headed down just before the crash, but this book really takes things to a different level. There are plenty of stories about survivors as well as those that fell victim to this terrorist act, but at the same time there are unbelievable facts about the building and how it was built. Was it up to code exactly? Would that have made a difference in the number of lives lost? There is also much insight into the relationship (or maybe lack thereof) between the NY police force and fire department. Lots of unfortuate disconnects between those two groups. Overall, it was an incredible view into those completely unreal 102 minutes. The book was written in a way that makes you want to believe it is fiction. Things like the countdown of time with start of each chapter made it difficult to remember that this was real life for so many people. Truly an eye opening account of the events inside those towers. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has an interest in the day that forever changed our nation.

I'll leave you with some pictures from one of my visits to the 9/11 Memorial.

Andrea :)