After an amazing weekend in AC with some of my favorites I got thrown right back into the swing of things in the city. Monday I headed off to volunteering after work and we had a really great, smooth night. I've officially hit one year of volunteering which has just blown my mind. I feel like I've been volunteering for years! I honestly can't imagine what my week would be like without it. I'll be sad to miss it the next two weeks for vacation, but I suppose everyone needs a break now and then!
Tuesday night I was supposed to run 2 miles, but because of dinner plans, I knew I couldn't go boxing Wednesday and didn't want to miss a week. So instead of running I chose to go to boxing class. I had a great chat with Alberto before class who is the owner of the gym, about my fitness goals. I told him all about the race I was training for and he told me parts of my boxing techniques that I should focus on that will help me with my running. After a ridiculously intense class I headed home and Sarah and I made another great quinoa recipe. This was passed along to me by Dominika and was a delicious version of a Mac and cheese. We sautéed some broccoli with garlic while cooking the quinoa and then combined that with cheese, milk and egg and baked in the oven. It was the perfect clean, healthy meal after a good workout!
Wednesday night I had dinner plans with the volunteer girls. After one of my last debacles of attempting a run and shower before dinner (that did not end well for anyone) I decided to go with a non-sweaty event, yoga. This particular instructor teaches his classes around a different theme each week. One week we focused on our necks and this week it was our breathing. While a lot of yoga is all about monitoring our breathing this took it to a whole new level. I truly could feel the connection with my body and hope that I can take those lessons and use them in my running. After yoga I headed to dinner around the corner at a delicious Mediterranean restaurant with 6 of my favorite ladies. We had great food, drinks and company all night and are already planning next month's dinner! And, I'm looking forward to trying Bikram yoga with one of the girls as yet another way to challenge my body.
As the week progressed the weather got gloomier and of course I chose Thursday to run outside. I only needed to run 2 miles and finished in 19:40. It was a great short run so I really can't complain. After my run I had a quick shower and then went off to dinner with Derrick at a small Brazilian restaurant. We had one of the tastiest meals we have had in a while with a whole trout cooked to perfection!
Unfortunately my 'day of rest' was anything but. It was the most stressful day I've had a work in a long time that lead to me having to stay in the office until 7pm and miss my train home to CT. In the end everything worked itself out as it always does in the end, but it was quite a rough day. I finally made it home after taking the commuter rail and having my brother come get me in New Haven and he did what any good brother would do, took me for a drink!
After drinking about 32 ounces of a raspberry margarita I was still able to pull myself out of bed for a run this morning. I guess I had originally thought it would be warmer outside so I didn't have the best running clothes with me. Luckily my parents have a treadmill so I was able to run a solid 2 miles on that. I finished in just under 20 minutes which again is a great run for me. I was a bit surprised at the training schedule for this week since it didn't have me increasing my mileage today but Tuesday I am due for a 4 mile run. The rest of my Saturday was filled with celebrating one of my favorite people! It was Erica's bridal shower so my mom and I spent the afternoon in Framingham. It was nice to have some quality time in the car with my mom and spend time with Erica and of course Lauren.
Tomorrow I'm back to the city and it's crunch time! Only three days left until Italy so I need to start packing and getting everything in order!! I know I won't be adhering to my training schedule while I'm there but I'm sure I'll be doing an insane amount of running!
I think that's about all I've got for this crazy week. Onto the next one!
Busy week! That Quinoa mac and cheese looks amazing! Quinoa is so hard to find in Croatia though. Also - that marg looks delicious ;) yummy!
ReplyDeleteOn another note - Where in Italy are you going to? You'll be right next door to us! I hope you'll still find a chance to blog while you're on vacation, would love to see what you're up to (and what you're eating there!).