Life After Marathons: A Running/barre3/Coffee/Life Journal

[SarahDisney]

Um ... I forgot to include my Avengers review in the recap.

It was okay. I had forgotten about a certain actor who appeared in the movie, so a few minutes in I had to stop to watch this:

I liked Captain America. I hated Iron Man (which did not surprise me at all). I was meh on everyone else. Overall, I think I've gotten past my Iron Man inspired hate of the MCU, but they're still not my favorite movies, they're ok.

I also watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier this week. I liked that one mostly. Not something I'd rewatch, but I do like Cap, and the new guy was cool too.

So I guess my opinion on the MCU has changed a little? It's not all terrible.

 

[SarahDisney]

Return to Running: 11/22/2021 - 11/28/2021​

Short Version:
2 runs, 1 in-person barre3 class, 1 livestream barre3 class, 1 walk

Long Version:
Monday:
barre3 In-Studio class with Katie. I was off from work this week so I got to take an afternoon class. It hits differently. But good practice for once I'm back in-office, when the plan is to do an afternoon class once a week.

Tuesday:
3.49 mile run. I stopped to take a picture of something and my sleeve ended my run. Oh Garmin...

Wednesday:
2.08 mile walk. I had an errand to run and I decided to walk it instead of taking the bus.

Thursday:
5.02 mile run. Sleeve ended the run again when I stopped to take a picture of a family friend's Chanukah inflatables display.
Did 5 miles in honor of the Turkey Trot I used to run back in the day. I thought about doing it again this year but logistically it would have been a mess and also I can't ask my dad to sit in the car for that long anymore.

Friday:
Rest Day. Was originally planning to do a barre3 livestream class but I was feeling sick on Thursday so I slept in instead.

Saturday:
Rest Day

Sunday:
barre3 Livestream with Vicky. I had considered taking an in-person class at the studio closer to my parents', but its not super close and I decided not to. Probably the wrong decision but whatever. Livestream class was good too.

Week Thoughts/Realizations:
Nothing too exciting going on this week. I was feeling sick on Thursday and Friday, which was my 2nd 24-48 hour cold of the season. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But whatever.

 

[SarahDisney]

Will have a recap for y'all on Tuesday, hopefully. My schedule got thrown off for the second week in a row so I'm finishing up some bulk cooking tonight and doing more tomorrow night then hopefully will have time to breathe/update on Tuesday.

So far tonight I made root vegetable soup, roasted acorn squash (which will get stuffed with rice), cabbage and turnip ginger slaw, and mashed sweet potato (well, still finishing that one up). I also prepped the ingredient's for tomorrow's roasted root veggies, which will eventually be part of roasted vegetable rice bowls (that's probably next week, though - I think I'm gonna freeze the veggies). All that's left is roasting the veggies tomorrow, making cheese ravioli (its frozen so not really much work to do), and making rice for the squash. And I have to make chicken later in the week. And I have to go to the wine store.
It's gonna be a bit of a busy week but I'll make it work. This is normal busy for me.

 

[SarahDisney]

Return to Running: 11/29/2021 - 12/5/2021​

Short Version:
2 runs, 1 in-person barre3 class, 1 livestream barre3 class

Long Version:
Monday:
Rest Day. I had a lot of cooking to do so that was my focus for the day

Tuesday:
barre3 In-Studio class with Ashley E. Nothing exceptional about this class.
Also walked about 2 miles, but I didn't track that

Wednesday:
3.26 mile run. I don't remember anything special about this run

Thursday:
barre3 Livestream class with Bond. I had an early meeting and stuff to do so livestream was more convenient than in-person.

Friday:
2.19 mile run. Original plan was for this to be 10K but my watch battery was low.

Saturday:
Rest Day

Sunday:
Rest Day

Week Thoughts/Realizations:
- I had a lot going on this week and that made it a slow week but it was fine.
- I'm pretty annoyed at myself because I should have run 10K on Friday but I was dumb. Yeah.

 

[SarahDisney]

The drawing for one of my favorite races, the United Airlines NYC Half, is tomorrow!

As a reminder, here's the story from the last time I got in.

I'm not expecting to get in. I'm less than thrilled with NYRR these days, so even if I do get in, I might defer. We will see how it goes.

 

[SarahDisney]

Right now I'm operating under the assumption that I'm not getting in (although I haven't checked in a few hours). One thing this made me realize is that I do want to do a race around then. So one of my to-do items for this weekend will be trying to find another local race in late February or early-to-mid March (not going to want to travel for some other reasons). Hopefully I can find something that seems interesting.

 

[SarahDisney]

So anyway, I have a job and actually had work to do today (and worked past 5:30 for the second day in a row) so I was just opening my CC account and looking at the balance and not checking individual charges. It turns out, my CC account balance doesn't update when there's a pending charge, it just updates when the charge goes through. So a $145 pending charge from NYRR doesn't change the account balance. So I didn't know I was in until I got the email (and then I checked my credit card transactions and it was there).

 

[SarahDisney]

 

[SarahDisney]

Return to Running: 12/6/2021 - 12/12/2021​

Short Version:
2 runs, 3 in-person barre3 classes

Long Version:
Monday:
barre3 In-Studio class with Bond. Good class.

Tuesday:
6.25 mile run. This run! Such a big mental boost finally getting over that hurdle.
Had some stuff to do after work (and didn't "leave" work until after 6:30) and was gonna open a beer and finish my season of Smallville after that, but I never got around to opening the beer (I did finish Smallville ... only one season left and then I'm finally done with this nonsense)

Wednesday:
barre3 In-Studio class with Bond. I generally try not to take the same instructor twice in the same week because a lot of instructors will plan one class for the week and teach that same class multiple times. But it actually worked out okay - the class had some of the same stuff but also some differences, so it was good.
NYC Half lottery day! I was not expecting to get in and was pretty surprised when I got the email. The timing actually sucks and I may defer. We'll see as we get closer.

Thursday:
2.51 mile run. Was running late in the morning so I cut it a drop shorter than planned. I'm still working out this whole run before going into the office situation.

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Rest Day

Sunday:
barre3 In-Studio with Vicky

Week Thoughts/Realizations:
- Going into the NYC Half lottery, I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to get in. When I got the email I was excited, but that feeling didn't last very long. At this point I'm not as thrilled as I should be that I got in. I'm sure race day will be exciting, but getting there is gonna suck.
- I've had so many thoughts about training for the race (which I may share here eventually), but ultimately I don't know if I even want to train. Nothing will start until at least January, so I have time to figure it out, but I'm afraid I'm going to end up doing something that will make me miserable because I think it's what I "need" to do.
- This journal started in December 2017 as I was waiting to find out if I would get into the NYC Half. I think it should end after the 2022 NYC Half. It feels like the completion of a journey - learning to run differently than I had before, discovering what I do and don't like about running, and finally, hopefully, putting those lessons into action to finish this same race one more time.
- Next Sunday I will be doing a long run. Original plan was 7-8 miles, then 8-9 miles, and now I'm wondering if I want to do double digits (for the first time since April). I'm very excited to see what bad decision I go with. But first I need to figure out a water bottle situation because my usual long run water bottle is injured.

 

[SarahDisney]

I'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch but also trying to think about Etsy shipping schedules.

 

[SarahDisney]

Return to Running: 12/13/2021 - 12/20/2021​

Short Version:
2 runs, 1 in-person barre3 class, 1 online barre3 stretch video

Long Version:
Monday:
barre3 In-Studio class with Bond. I had stuff to do so I left class about 10 minutes early. Honestly, not sure going was really the right move in the first place, but considering the fact that I didn't make it to class at all the rest of the week, I guess this was a good thing.

Tuesday:
Rest Day

Wednesday:
3.64 mile run. I'm getting better at getting in a good run and then being at work by 9:30.

Thursday:
barre3 Online stretch video. Just a lot of little stuff going on led to this not being the best day.

Friday:
Rest Day. Was originally schedule for a barre3 livestream but thought I would have too much work stuff going on.

Saturday:
Rest Day

Sunday:
10.13 mile run. So, this thing. I wanted to run down to the Rockefeller Center tree, and now that life is back, I can only do that on weekends. So I figured take a Sunday to run down there and back. I figured I could make a 7 miler out of it. Then I thought ... what if I try to top July's 8-miler? That somehow turned into trying for 10 miles. And I actually did it! Trying for 10 miles after having barely run over the last 5-6 months is probably not my best idea ever but it was fun. Sometimes the best runs come from bad decisions.

Also, I bought a new handheld water bottle. Nathan Speedmax Pro. It was a little loose at first, but then I tightened it and it felt better. Getting the nozzle open and closed wasn't the easiest, but it wasn't too bad. Drinking from it while it was on my hand required bending my elbow at a weird angle but it was weird awkward, not weird uncomfortable. Probably not worth what I paid for it, but I can tolerate it. It's a keeper.

Week Thoughts/Realizations:
1 - Felt really good to know that I can still do double digits, even if maybe I shouldn't have done it on this little training.
2 - I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't hate the handheld water bottle.
3 - Most of the week was rough but I think it ended on a good note. All things considered, not the worst week.

Not-Running Related:
I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND! We're going for 4 days in January. Staying at Paradise Pier, which is our first time onsite at DL. We got Genie+, mostly for the Photopass pictures, but we'll also use lightning lane. We haven't been in 9+ years so I'm so excited. It's gonna be amazing.
Also, I'm currently shopping for Minnie ears on Etsy and decisions are hard!

 

[SarahDisney]

Also ... gonna watch a Marvel movie today while I recover from my run. I'm debating whether to attempt Avengers: Age of Ultron or skip straight to the next Captain America movie (based on the list @FFigawi posted a few months back Guardians of the Galaxy should be next, but I've seen that already).

 

[jmasgat]

Also ... gonna watch a Marvel movie today while I recover from my run. I'm debating whether to attempt Avengers: Age of Ultron or skip straight to the next Captain America movie (based on the list @FFigawi posted a few months back Guardians of the Galaxy should be next, but I've seen that already).

I just finished the Marvel movies--not in the right order. Finally watched the Iron Man series and ended up with CA: Civil War. Now it makes slightly more sense how various characters got together.

 

[SarahDisney]

I just finished the Marvel movies--not in the right order. Finally watched the Iron Man series and ended up with CA: Civil War. Now it makes slightly more sense how various characters got together.

Congrats on finishing! I'm still figuring out how things get together but I'm hoping it all makes sense in the end.

 

[garneska]

No it does not. I try though. I watched Black Widow. It was ok But I spent the entire time trying to figure out how it all links together. just wanting to let you know if you don’t get it, it’s ok. I don’t think I enjoy the movies as much as others. On the flip side I really did enjoy Wandavision.

 

[SarahDisney]

No it does not. I try though. I watched Black Widow. It was ok But I spent the entire time trying to figure out how it all links together. just wanting to let you know if you don’t get it, it’s ok. I don’t think I enjoy the movies as much as others. On the flip side I really did enjoy Wandavision.

Well that's good to know. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully some of it will make sense at the end but I guess it's normal if I'm still somewhat confused.

I actually watched WandaVision. I loved the parts that were sitcom-y. I didn't like the last few episodes. But maybe if I rewatch it after watching the movies I'll feel differently. I do know who Wanda and Vision are now, that was all new to me when I first watched it.

 

[FFigawi]

For what it’s worth, Loki is just as good as Wandavision. Highly recommend watching that as well.

 

[garneska]

sara I did not want you to get too down. I like the Marvel movies and try hard but not something I gravitate towards. I did nit want you to feel alone or myself for that matter, so thanks .

@FFigawi great we do plan to watch both Loki and falcon and the soldier.

 

[SarahDisney]

For what it’s worth, Loki is just as good as Wandavision. Highly recommend watching that as well.

Oh yay more things to watch.
I actually didn't like Loki in Avengers, but I'll give the show a try.
I also want to watch Hawkeye because I think it takes place in NYC.

Tonight's plan is to drink my last beer (I gotta go grocery shopping tomorrow) and watch Captain America: Civil War. I hope I like it.
Tomorrow's plan is to finally finish Smallville, so it's gonna be a very superhero few days.

 

[SarahDisney]

So, thoughts on Captain America: Civil War:

Spoiler

I thought the premise with the accords was really interesting. I don't know which side I would be on in reality, but because I like Cap more than Iron Man, I was Team Cap.
I thought Spiderman was adorkable. I wish we had seen more of Ant-Man (or at least that he had been funnier). I could take or leave Black Panther, but I'll watch his movie.

I didn't like the thing at the end with Cap, Bucky Barnes, and Iron Man. Why did they make them fight for 30 minutes? It was just annoying. I don't know if anyone was really in character in that part. Also, honestly, it felt like two separate movies. One was about the accords, the other should have been part of an Iron Man movie. So yeah, I would have ended the movie before that part.
I'm glad Cap and Tony Stank a little bit made up at the end.

The post-credits scene was perfect. "Steve. You don't know him. He's from Brooklyn. His friend was huge." Dying.

Also, small complaint:
When Peter Parker says he's from Queens, Cap says "Brooklyn", as if that makes them kindred spirits. No. That's not how it works. That makes them mortal enemies. Queens is way better than Brooklyn. Queens people don't do Brooklyn unless we can't avoid it.

Next Up: Black Panther. Might watch that this weekend? I gotta figure out how much I want to get through before Disneyland.
Correction: Apparently Dr. Strange is next. I'm not overly looking forward to that one but I'll watch it.