Sunday, January 30, 2011

Slow Saturday Slosh in the Sloppy Snow

Friday night I went out for a few drinks after work with my friends Vicki and Laura. I started with a glass of Riesling (Chateau St. Michelle) and then split a UFO white with Laura. I LOVE the wine, but did not care for the beer.

After drinks, we said goodbye to Laura and headed out to dinner downtown. I purchased a $25 restaurant.com gift card a few weeks ago to Red Sky and could not wait to use it. I started with a Key Lime Pie Martini:


BEST DRINK of the night!!! For dinner, Vicki and I split a caprese salad:


For my entree I ordered a chicken flat bread (unphotographed). All the food was delicious and inexpensive. I would highly recommend going back to this restaurant if you want a hip vibe where you can have fun drinks and a few appetizers.

After dinner we spent the rest of the night bar hopping around the Faniel Hall and Financial District areas. I had two more drinks through out the night and tried to drink lots and lots of water. It was a really, really fun night!!! However, I quickly discovered that my body is not like it once was when I was 21.

I woke up Saturday morning at 10am (Which is SO late for me) and rushed out for a run. My family, Evan and I were scheduled to go out reception site hunting, so I had to get out quickly for a run. I was supposed to do 12 miles, but only had time for 8.

Let's just say it was NOT a pretty run!!! I felt horrible, horrible and almost stopped and walked a few times. I felt nauseous, dizzy and was overheating. Here are my stats:

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:11:46
Mile 1: 9:08
Mile 2: 9:37
Mile 3: 9:04
Mile 4: 8:55
Mile 5: 8:41
Mile 6: 8:52
Mile 7: 8:29
Mile 8: 8:57

The good news: I felt better as the run went on and I completed the 8 miles. The bad news was it wasn't pretty! Between not feeling good and the roads (especially at the start) were SO snowing. It was NOT a good run!

Would you go out for a run after a night out? How do you conquer snowy roads? 


Feeling better today! So, I am off to take a Body Pump class and run my last four miles to equal the 12 I was supposed to run yesterday. Hope you had a great weekend!!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Tuning Up!

Well, we have another snow day here in Boston! I had a 7 mile run planned with DreamFar, but due to the weather (and no school) I was (again) on the treadmill. However, the run was not too bad and I finished in 61:30 minutes. I kept my incline at .5 and varied my speed between 6.3mph to 7.5mph.

What made the run go by nice and fast was my music selection. I thought I would use this post to discuss music taste. Just as important to feeling good on a run is having some good music to get you through it(especially when you are on the treadmill!!). Here are my current top 10 favorites:

1) Club Can't Handle Me: Flo Rida
2) Dynamite: Taio Cruz
3) Dog Days are Over: Florence and The Machine
4)  King of Anything: Sara Bareillas
5) Medley: Jersey Boys
6) Bad Romance: Lady Gaga
7) December 1963: Jersey Boys
8) Break Your Heart: Taio Cruz
9) Not Afraid: Eminem
10) Defying Gravity: Wicked

What are your favorite tunes to listen to while you run? Do you prefer listening to music, podcast, watching TV, reading magazines, talking to friends or nothing while you run?


Once home I fueled up with this nutritious and delicious lunch!

Pastrami and mustard on honey bread with a side salad of spinach, cinnamon almonds, pepper, carrots and cucumbers (and an unphotographed apple)
Mmmmm I LOVE toasted sandwiches!!! Off to meet a friend for coffee and then to a wedding gala with my mom!

Oh and check out Evan's new blog Just Add Beer!! It is great!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Weight Gain

A few co-workers and I were talking today about weight loss and weight loss programs (a co-worker is using the "new" Weight Watchers program). This co-worker explained how weight loss or weight maintenance is all about choices: you can eat a donut for breakfast, but then for lunch you might have to make a less caloric choice. While I agree that choices are important, I don't agree with eating donuts for breakfast and a small salad for lunch is a great choice. I am all for nutritious dense foods for every meal that will fill you up and keep you full for hours. However, I do enjoy a few beers and desserts a couple of times a week. It is all about balance in my option, maybe more than choices.

In addition to our weight loss/maintenance chat we also talked about the weight gain phenomena that happens during marathon (or half marathon) training. Another co-worker (who is training with DreamFar) complained about the weight gain he is experiencing while training for the marathon. I am still confused at why this happens and once home did a little research. Here's what I found:

- Marathoners may be taking in extra calories without realizing it. Running long miles does not allow you to eat whatever you want, whenever you want. Eating nutritiously is especially important during training.

- Marathon training forces you to lose variety in your workouts and the first thing to go is weight training, which can slow down your metabolism.

- Along with the loss of variety, there is also a loss of intensity with marathon training. So again, that can slow down your metabolism.

- One explanation is that as you are training, you are building more muscle mass, which is denser than fat. So, that can appear to be weight gain.

- Another explanation is that your body is learning to store carbs to fuel you for the long runs. The glycogen storage is important for you not to "hit the wall" on the longs, but can appear as weight gain on the scale on certain days. Your body also stores water to break down the glycogen, which may also be extra weight on the scale.

What do you think about weight gain during Marathon training? What are some solutions you have to maintaining your weight during training.


A solution post (with your comments and mine) is to follow......

Today, I ran on the treadmill because it was freezing out and I wanted to do a speed workout (I prefer the treadmill for speed workouts). My plan was to do 6 x 400s with only a 400 rest in between. Here was the work out:

                 Distance    Speed
Warm up: 1 mile          6.3
                 400             7.5
                 400             6.3
                 400             7.6
                 400             6.3
                 400             7.7
                 400             6.3
                 400             7.8
                 400             6.3
                 400             7.9
                 400             6.3
                 400             8.5
                 400             6.3
Cool down: 1mile       6.3

Total Distance: 5 miles
Total Duration: 45 minutes
Incline:   .5

Great run! I could have pushed myself a little more, but this was my first speed workout since my half marathon training. I will try to increase my speed next time!

I leave this cold evening with a picture of my yummy dinner. It was a perfect night for a warm comfort meal: Slow Cooker Pot Roast!


              

Sunday, January 23, 2011

In Search of Good Reception

Where did I leave off..... Friday, after the storm, I took a walk to meet Evan at work for a few drinks with he and his co-workers. I started off with a delicious Goose Island Matilde.


This is a GREAT beer, especially if you like Belgium beer. I recommend it! After chatting away with some new and old friends, I quickly ordered my second beer: Palm Belgium Pale Ale.


I was very interested in what this beer would taste like because I had never had a Belgium style beer that was also a pale ale. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised! It had a nice flavor like a Belgium, but was a little lighter (which I liked!). 

My stomach started rumbling, so Evan and I departed his co-workers and went over to the the Fenway area to try a new restaurant: Citizen Public House and Oyster Bar. Unfortunately, there was a two hour wait and just one seat at the bar. So, we decided to try our luck at Chipotle instead.

We started with chips, salsa and guac.


For my entree, I ordered the Burrito bowl with pork....Mmmmmmmm


I swear there was pork under there. Chipotle was a GREAT alternative (and CHEAP)!

Afterwards we went back to the Citizen's Public House for a quick drink before we met another group of friends who were out for a birthday party. I order a yummy Cab:


The Citizen's restaurant was actually pretty cool because they had wine on tap! We meet up with the birthday boy and his friends soon after, but I stuck to water for the rest of the night. 

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Saturday morning I woke up bright and early (7:30 am) to head out for a LONG run. It was one of the coldest days of the year, but I didn't let that stop me. NO way! I headed right out there all bundled up! Here are my splits:

Duration: 1:19:39
Distance: 9.00
Mile 1: 8:55
Mile 2: 8:49
Mile 3: 9:16
Mile 4: 8:27
Mile 5: 8:52
Mile 6: 8:52
Mile 7: 8:50
Mile 8: 9:03
Mile 9: 8:30

I was a little slower than normal for many reasons. First, my legs were really, really sore from a David Farmer podcast I did on Friday. Second, my whole body was frozen solid and it was VERY hard to get moving. Finally, I was tired because I only got a few hours of sleep. Oh well, sometimes you just don't have a good run. 

After the run, Evan and I headed to my parents' house to look at a few more reception sites and attended a bridal show. We found a few sites we liked and one we really like, but it was too small for the amount of guests we have. It was a VERY tiring day. Wedding, although fun, is very stressful!

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Today, I woke up very sore and decided to take a "rest" day. So, instead of working out my family, Evan and I went looking at another reception site on the water, north of Boston. We LOVED this site, but would still like to look at a few more places before we make our final decision. 

My body is feeling better tonight, so I am hoping to get up early before work and head to the gym. Wish me luck!

How was your weekend? How many reception sites did you look at before deciding on your wedding location? 


Friday, January 21, 2011

Broke Back Jon!

Looks like we have another snow day here in Boston! Man, I am telling you, the weather is crazy this year! I do not remember it being like this in the past. I mean it did not snow AT ALL before the holidays and then out of nowhere it will not stop! So another day of working out of the house.... Good thing I got my outside run in yesterday!

I ran with DreamFar after school yesterday and it was an interesting run. We had planned to go between 6-8 miles and run around the Jamaica Pond. We were supposed to run 3 times around the pond; however, our first lap around basically felt like we were ice skating! There was a huge sheet of ice around the whole pond.
So, the first 1.5-2 miles was HORRIBLE!!! All I could think about was not falling or breaking something.

Needless to say, we rerouted after that! We decided that the main roads were our best bet! So, we ran to Beacon Street, up to Cleveland Circle and then back to the high school. The road conditions improved a lot and the second half of the run was much better.

Unfortunately, I was so concerned with not killing myself that I forgot to hit my lap button on the Garmin, so I do not know the splits of each mile. But the total time for the run was 1 hour and 10 minutes and the total distance was 7.75 miles. I think we might have gone a tenth or two tenths more because my Garmin didn't start getting reception for a few minutes.

After my run, I hurried home because my brother and his friend were coming over for dinner. My brother had a little ski accident 2 weeks ago and fractured his spine ("Broke Back Jon"). I have not seen him since the accident, so I was anxious to have him over. Luckily, he is doing much better and has no permanent damage, but is in some pain and must wear a back brace.

I prepared my tiny apartment for the company:


And started with a UFO White


This beer was good, but not great. I used to LOVE wheat beers, but have been liking the Belgian beers better recently.

For dinner, Evan and I made Jenna's Chicken Parmesan with a twist recipe. It was really, really good! It was definitely a crowd pleaser.


On the side I made a large salad and had a fresh French Baguette.


Mmmmmmmmm


For my second beer I switched to a Harpoon Belgian Pale Ale. Much, much better!!!


Good Times!!


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Today I am hoping to be somewhat productive and work on a report for work. Not sure if I am going to take a rest day (It is VERY hard for me to "rest") or go to a yoga class. Not sure what's on the agenda for tonight, might meet Evan and a few of his work friends for drinks, but I am hoping I can get up to go running with DreamFar in the early morning tomorrow. We will see.............

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Frightful Weather!

Well the weather outside's been frightful and my dears it hasn't been too delightful......

It has been MESSY out there these last few days and it is supposed to get worse as the week goes on! They are saying the commute on Friday is supposed to be HORRIBLE!! Needless to say my outside running has been somewhat nonexistent. However, I did have a good run yesterday on the treadmill and today I tried out a Zumba class with a friend! I am hopping tomorrow (Thursday) I will get out for an outdoor run. DreamFar has an 8 miler planned....

My run on the treadmill was only 4 miles, but I did some "speed ups" along the way. It went something like this:

Warm up (5 minutes alternating between 6.0 and 6.5 miles an hour)
minute 6    6.0
minute 7    6.5
minute 8    7.0
minute 9    6.0
minute 10  6.5
minute 11  7.0
minute 12  7.5
minute 13  6.0
minute 14  6.5
minute 15  7.0
minute 16  6.5
minute 17  6.8
minute 18  7.0
minute 19  7.3
minute 20  7.5
minute 21  7.5
minute 22  7.3
minute 23  7.0
minute 24  6.8
minute 25  6.5
minute 26  6.5
minute 27  8.0
minute 28  6.5
minute 29  8.0
minute 30  6.5
Cool Down for 5 minutes and 30 seconds (alternating between 6.0 and 6.5 mph)

Great workout!!! Try it out the next time the weather forces you inside.
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Today, I had a fun time dancing my butt away in Zumba! I tried out a Zumba studio close to my house and a friend joined me. I literally had the best time of my life!!! I could have danced for 10 hours straight!!! I LOVED it! I have done a few Zumba classes before, but none compared to this one. The teacher was fun and kept us moving the whole time. It was GREAT!!!!!!!!

As for dinner, I followed Laura's lead and used this recipe from Cooking Light. The only exception was that we used spinach instead of arugula because they were out at the store.


The meal was really good! Light and Fresh! But I think I need to find me some ice cream or chocolate to get me out of the winter blues, especially with all this yucky weather!!!

What do you do to help with the winter blues? Or to help you deal with bad weather?


Monday, January 17, 2011

Oops...Not quite at 100

So, I was doing a little recalculating and this is actually my 99th post and yesterday's post was my 98th  (not my 100th). When I sign in to "edit post" they tell me how many post I have done. Well, when I signed in yesterday it said "this is your 100th post." So, I posted and celebrated the 100th post. Well, I happened to go through and look at past posts and calculated the number in my head and realized it only added up to 98. Hmmm, either I can't do math or something is wrong. Well, what I figured out is the "edit post" tab takes into account posts that you don't end up publishing as well as the ones I publish. Oops! I guess I celebrated a little too early.........

As for running this weekend, I got in two great runs! I was supposed to run 10 miles on Saturday with the DreamFar team, but in the end could not make it because I had 4 wedding reception sites to look at and my first appointment was at 11am. And not only could I not make the run with them, but I also did not have much time to run on my own. In addition, it was only 7 degrees outside not including the wind!!

I decided I would run a few miles Saturday morning (on the treadmill) and then run a longer run (outside) on Sunday. Saturday I woke up nice and early and ran 5 miles on the treadmill in 45 minutes. Then on Sunday I ran a GREAT loop around the Boston/Brookline area. The loop left from my house then I ran a few miles around the "Fens" area to Beacon street in Brookline then to Coolidge Corner where I then looped back to the Charles River and ran home. The run turned out to be 6.5 miles. Here are the stats:

Distance: 6.5
Duration: 56:02
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:36
Mile 3: 8:41
Mile 4: 8:24
Mile 5: 8:48
Mile 6: 8:25
Mile .5: 4:21

It was a really good run and the weather was very nice! Chilly, but sunny and the wind was not too bad. Also, there was not many hills (only 2-3 gradual ones). I totalled 11.5 miles for the weekend, which is longer than the 10 miles DreamFar did, but I did not run them all in one day. I guess I could have just run all 10 on Sunday, but when I made my plans (Friday night) I did not know what the weather would be like on Sunday and I figured 6 miles would not be too bad if I had to do that run on the treadmill too.

Looks like it is going to be a cold/snowy week, so not sure what my running schedule will be like. I am hoping to get out for at least one day and maybe do the other two on the treadmill.

---------

Today I took a break from running and did a spinning class. It was hard, but great to change things up!!
For dinner, Evan and I made a whole roasted chicken.

We rubbed the chicken inside the skin and out with fresh rosemary and thyme, lemon pepper, salt, EVOO, garlic and fresh lemon. Then cooked the chicken in the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes and then at 350 for 20 minutes per pound (70 minutes for a 3.5 pound chicken). 


Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!! PERFECTION!!!!!!!


On the side we had wild long grain rice and broccoli. 



Yum!


Getting ready to start another week!

If you had the day off today, did you do anything fun?

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Celebrations!

HAPPY 100th POST!!!!!

Today is the 100th post for "Girl with the Pink Hat." The blog is still growing and I am still trying to develop my style and what I can contribute to the blog world, but I am very proud of the blog so far and am VERY, VERY thankful to all you who stop by! Thank you!!!! And I am also thankful to Evan for supporting and encouraging me to pursue this project!!!

How is the blog so far? Is there anything you would like to see more of or less??

Thank you all again for viewing, following, commenting and supporting the blog!!!

In other celebratory news: 

HAPPY 6 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EVAN!!!!


Evan and I had our first date 6 years ago from yesterday (January 15th). We went to an Italian restaurant in the North End of Boston and then to a movie ("Sideways"). It was wonderful, but I had no idea how incredible our relation would become. Evan is my best friend and I am SO happy to marry him in a year and half! 

Evan impressed me back then and is still impressing and surprising me today. When I got home yesterday he had this beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card waiting for me!


To celebrate, we went to Oleana, a restaurant in Cambridge that was awarded top Boston area restaurant of 2010. The restaurant provided Eastern Mediterranean cuisine and was highly recommended to us by our friends Laura and Matt. Oleana was warm and inviting, but the table we sat at was a little to small for two people. 


We started with this smooth tasting bottle of wine (great recommendation from our waitress)


and whipped feta and bread (I ate about 100 pieces of bread!)!!


Next up, we ordered the:  Spinach Falafel with Tahini, Yogurt, Beets & Crinkled Cress  



This was the best dish of the night!! The flavors were so unique and fresh. Everything paired so well together. I highly recommend ordering this dish if you go to Oleana!!

For our entrees, I ordered the "special", which was salmon on top of hummus, tabouli and greens. It was amazing!!


The salmon was fresh and the greens and tabouli were nice complements. However, I did not like the hummus on the bottom; I felt it threw off the nice taste of the other foods, athough Evan liked the tastes together (he had a few bites). 

Evan ordered the Azuluna lamb and it was wonderful (I had a few bites).


Because we didn't want the night to end, we sat around (finished our wine) and digested so we could make room for dessert. 

Once we digested, we split a (French Pressed) decaf coffee and caramel butter bread pudding. The desserts are created from an award winning pastry chef, so we knew we had to try to make room for at least one to share.



HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO WORTH EVERY BITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a wonderful evening with the love of my life! Happy Anniversary Evan!


Now, time to run some of those calories off from last nights dinner. Running recap coming tomorrow......

How was your weekend? Do you have the day off tomorrow? If so, any fun plans?

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Impromptu Night Out

We ended up getting hit pretty hard yesterday and the snow kept coming even into the early evening. However, Evan and I saw the snow storm as an opportunity to get really cheap theater tickets! Let me explain: for Christmas my mom bought my dad tickets to Jersey Boys and the performance they chose was for last night (Wednesday). Since we got hit hard with the snow storm my mom wasn't sure if the performance was still going on. She received a phone call mid afternoon saying the show was still going on as planned, but if she decided not to attend they would refund her. Hmmm, this got me thinking: What are they going to do with all those extra tickets? Maybe they will sell them at half price? So, Evan (after work) trudged through the snow and went to the box office. They were not selling half price tickets but, they had "obstructed view" seats for only $28 (my mom paid $75 for hers). The guy at the box office told Evan to buy them and just move seats when we get there because a lot of people would not show up with the weather. So, what to do?


And my parents ended up coming in too!!! Before the show, we met up with them at an old German Pub (oldest bar in Boston) for a quick bite and beer.


Evan and I walked through a winter wonderland on the way to the restaurant.



Immediately upon entrance into the restaurant I ordered a Goose Island Matilde to warm up!

Mmmmmm...I love Belgium Beers!!
Then munched on some amazing corn bread!


For my entree, I ordered the spinach salad with walnuts, a soft cheese (not sure what kind), grilled pears, and chicken.


It was very good, nice and light. Thus, I could eat more corn bread and drink more heavy beer!!!

The show was VERY fun!! It had a great story and great music. I know the Four Season's music, but I didn't know the story behind the group. I danced the night away and Evan and I ended up getting great seats! It was a wonderful impromptu night out!!!

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I did not end up running with DreamFar today because I was afraid I would get injured with all the snow still unplowed on the sidewalks. So, I ran 5.5 miles on the treadmill in 49 minutes. It was a a good run and it was nice to have a controlled temperature and environment, especially when I looked outside and it was SO snowy and cold! I decided I really like running on the treadmill with runs shorter than 6 miles, but prefer outside for longer runs. 

Do you prefer treadmill or outside? What about in the winter?

Almost Friday!!! 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Burgers and Beer!

Just got back from a great run with the DreamFar team! Man, was it fast and cold!! There is a storm coming in tomorrow, so today definitely felt like the calm before the storm. Before our run today we got photographed by a photographer for a local on-line newspaper. She took a photo of the team plus a few "action" photos. I will link to the article when I find out when it comes out. Ok, so back to the run: we ended up running a little under 6 miles (I am not sure because we ran around a half a mile till I started my Garmin). Here are the splits once my Garmin started working:

Distance: 5:35
Duration: 45:39
Mile 1: 8:44
Mile 2: 8:45
Mile 3: 7:41
Mile 4: 7:58
Mile 5: 9:24 (running with an injured team mate)
Mile .35: 3:05

Mile 3 and 4 were FAST. This one kid really really pushed me hard. I was trying SO hard to keep up with him, but never did. Oh well, he really gave me a run for my money. I felt like I got a good training run in today. The Brookline High track team was running around the pond that we were running at, but they were doing some kind of work out. Man, they are fast!! They blasted right past me when I was going 7:41 minutes/mile.

We were only supposed to run 4 miles today, but our head coach likes to push us a little so we ended up doing close to 6. While I am glad I am getting in the miles, some of our kids are getting seriously injured. Over half of our runners are injured and some seriously injured.  


I know that you can get injured if you run too many miles, but we are only running three times a week, so I am not really sure if the students are getting injured from running just a few miles over the suggested amount.

How close do you follow a training plan? Do you think you can get injured from over training, even if you only run 3 days a week?
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Since there is a HUGE storm coming in tonight at midnight, the surrounding school systems (including the school I intern at) have already closed for tomorrow. So, what to do with a night off? 

DRINK BEER!!!



Eating Burgers (with sauted spinach)



And watching movies about beer: Beer Wars! Evan and I are currently drinking another beer and watching a documentary on Netflix instant about the war between large beer companies (Coors, Budweiser, Miller) and microbreweries. It is pretty interesting so far! I will let you know more about it when it is over!

Do you drink beer? If so would you rather a beer from a large beer company or a micro brew? What is your favorite kind of beer?

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Shopping and Eating

For Christmas Evan bought me two books: Great Runs in Boston and Great Runs in Brookline (both by Mark Lowenstein). Both books are comprehensive guides that feature lots of different theme runs in both Boston and Brookline. Evan gave me the Brookline one for when I run with the Dream Far team and also if I get bored of Boston runs Brookline is the next town over. The books are set up by first giving you the essential stats like the starting point, distance, terrain, lighting, bathrooms, water, public transportation, parking and highlights. Then gives you an overview of the run, directions and then the running route mapped out.

I did not get up on Saturday to go running with my Dream Far team because I babysat late Friday night and then met some college friends who live out of town for drinks. However, I did attempt to run the ten miles on my own. Since I was running on my own I decided to try out my new book (Great Runs in Boston). I decided to combine two routes to make a long run. And the runs incorporated two of my favorite things: Shopping and Food! They were called: "Back Bay Shopping Trip" and "Gourmet Gallop." The runs included some of the nicest streets in Boston and really gave a great tour of different neighborhoods. I even ran up Beacon Hill past the State House at one point. This run definitely had some nice sights and I did not get bored once during the hour and 20 minutes I was out. However, I did get a little hungry running through an area (South End) with incredible restaurants! The run totaled 9.5 miles and I figured that was close enough to 10, so I called it a day!

Here are my stats:

Distance: 9.5
Duration: 1:21:18
Mile 1: 8:08
Mile 2.07 (I was a little late hitting the split button): 8:37
Mile 3 (this was a little less than a mile: .93): 8:18
Mile 4: 8:37
Mile 5: 8:36
Mile 6: 8:32
Mile 7: 8:47
Mile 8: 8:29
Mile 9: 8:28
Mile .5: 4:06

This run was really interesting for two reasons: I was running in the middle of a small snow storm and the course was relatively flat minus running up Beacon Hill (about .25 mile steep hill). I am not sure how these two factors affected the run. One (the snow storm) made me run slower because the roads were slippery and I was cautious that I didn't get hit by cars, but the second factor (flat terrain) allowed me to go faster because I did not have the challenge of steep hills. Needless to say this was a unique run. However, I did feel good and my knee did not bother me! I also really enjoyed the route, especially because I got some good people watching in while they shopped and dined!

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After the run, Evan and I had a nice afternoon and evening looking at ring settings, going to the movies (we saw The Fighter) and having a lovely meal out! We both really, really enjoyed The Fighter and highly recommend seeing it, especially if you are familiar with Boston and surrounding areas! Christian Bale was AMAZING!!!! 

As for dinner, we dined at Masa (a South End favorite!). When we arrived there was a large party being held there, so they explained they would not have a table ready until 8:30/9. No worries, the restaurant has a wonderful bar and a tapas sampler plate for only $10!!!! So, Evan and I sat at the bar ordered drinks (I had a Rioja and Evan ordered a Margarita) and split the sampler platter.



I can't even begin to remember what each Tapas was, but I can tell you they were amazing and a perfect appetizer to hold us over till our table was ready. Once we sat, a delicious bread basket and "dips" were brought to us.

Sourdough and Corn bread
Chipotle cream cheese, Honey butter and Red pepper hummus
My favorite combo was the corn bread and honey butter: it tasted like a gingerbread cookie!!! For my entree, I ordered another glass of wine and Blackened rare Ahi tuna steak with yellow Mole sauce, potatoes and wild mushrooms


The tuna steak was amazing, I cannot even do it justice on the blog. It was HUGE, fresh and cooked perfectly. In addition, the yellow mole sauce was a nice complement to the tuna. The only thing I did not like was that the mushrooms were basically nonexistent; I could have used a LOT more mushrooms. Oh well, the meal on the whole was wonderful!

For dessert, I was really full, but still wanted something sweet so I ordered a 20-year aged port:


A perfect ending to a wonderful meal! I highly recommend dining at Masa, it was a great experience!!

My legs are a little sore today, so I think I am going to try a "Yoga for Runners" class on yogadownload.com.

Has anyone ever used a yoga download? Was it equivalent to a yoga class?


Hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for the week!!!