Seattle Adventures Day 1

It’s official. I don’t think we’ve been this relaxed, as a couple, in over a year! Our first day in Seattle was fabulous!

We were both up at 7:00 with Ryan and Amy as they headed out to work, doing our best to acclimate to the new time zone and take advantage of the day. They live in the adorable Queen Anne neighborhood so there are literally four coffee shops within a block of their house. We headed down to Macrina Bakery for a loaf of bread and a cup of java around 7:30. Macrina is a local coffee shop and bakery that Ryan and Amy introduced me to last time.

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I love this quote that they had on their wall chalkboard, greeting customers as they entered the shop.

They even make their own vanilla sugar! Just one dash was enough to sweeten my double latte perfectly!

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Bright eyed and bushy tailed after our coffee, Bo and I made breakfast and relaxed with the newspaper for most of the morning.

Fresh Washington peaches, tomatoes, turkey bacon, Macrina bread, and some eggs was the perfect breakfast to fuel our day’s activities.

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Around 11 we headed over to Lake Union for an 8 mile run. Like I said on Monday, this week is all about running on tired legs and increasing my mid-week mileage. This is definitely a change versus previous training seasons which I hope will really make a difference come November. In year’s prior, my midweek runs were never more than five or six miles. This was due in part to my mentality. I didn’t think I could do it, I was only a morning runner and logging that many before work on a weekly basis didn’t seem fun and I didn’t understand the rationale. Now that I understand the rationale behind longer midweek runs it has made making time for them far easier. This week I’m definitely spoiled since I am on vacation mode. There is a pretty clear path around much of Lake Union and then where there isn’t a path there is clear signage that directs you along the coastline and over the bridges.

We only stopped once for pictures which is why all these are in the same area. The Gasworks area provided great views of the Seattle skyline which explains why there were so many people enjoying the weather in the park. IMG_4289

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However, our favorite part of the run was earlier in our route when we passed the house boat developments. Literally there was one dock connecting a “development” of 20 to 30 different boats. They were so unique and amazing to look in the windows as we ran along the coast.

After our run we came back to shower before heading downtown for a progressive lunch in Pike Place Market! We were both starving since it was already 2:30 when we arrived downtown so our first priority was food! 

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Since we were in Seattle together just 2 years ago, we had fond memories of a couple stands. I was craving seafood and therefore headed straight to Jack’s Fish Spot. Instead of going with their popular fish and chips or fried oysters, I tried their lump Dungeness crab cocktail. It was delicious and a large enough portion to take me from hangry pants to happy!

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Next stop was Piroshky Piroshky, a famous Russian bakery that opened in the market 20 years ago. Our food tour two years ago introduced us to this place and I think Bo has been dreaming about it ever since. A piroshky is a hand held meal normally in the form of a stuffed bun or pie shape, filled with meat and vegetables. Bo enjoyed a beef and onion piroshky which didn’t disappoint. Steaming hot, the flaky pastry outside melted in your mouth! Of course I had to enjoy a bite, just to make sure it was safe.

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As we headed through the market, enjoying the sights and sounds, a fruit vendor convinced me that Washington peaches could live up to my Georgia expectations. I worried that these huge peaches wouldn’t have a strong flavor but boy was I wrong. This was the best peach I’ve ever had. Sorry Georgia but I definitely am cheating on you this week.

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We spent the rest of our afternoon enjoying the views and just hanging out park side until Ryan and Amy came downtown to meet us for some dinner grocery shopping.

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Such a wonderful and relaxing Seattle day!

Your turn! What’s your favorite fruit? Mine is definitely peaches!

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US Open Fun

Due to work and travel I’m a bit behind on blog posts but don’t you worry, I will catch up while we’re on vacation in Seattle. This trip is all about fun with our dear friends Ryan and Amy, while also enjoying some fresh air and R&R.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the US Open for the third time! The first time, back in 2010 I went with Bo to an evening men’s match with the NYC UGA Alumni Association.  Going to a night game had it’s benefits: normally bigger matches, cooler temperatures, and allow you to not miss work to attend. But, most matches don’t end until 10:30 or 11pm which means a midnight train ride back to the city.

Due to our partnership with Lacoste, we’re able to take our client, Macy’s, to the US Open each year for a day of fun in the Lacoste box. Getting to the stadium is just a quick ride out to the stadium on the 7 train right from Grand Central. Therefore, we met as a group around 10 yesterday so we could head out together. I forget how beautiful Grand Central Station is since I don’t spend much time there.

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We arrived at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center right at 11 and were in the box by 11:15! It’s right near the Queens Half Marathon course which brought back quite a few memories, especially when I saw this site.

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I will say that unfortunately, this year they aren’t allowing bags larger than 12 inches by 12 inches. Therefore, we had to deal with checking our bags since they had laptops (not allowed either) and were too large. It cost $5 for a locker and took about 15 minutes. Not too bad but it was a pain since we didn’t know.

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We caught the women’s match, which was a quick one and not nearly as exciting as the men’s match since there were only 2 sets in the match. As you can see below, it wasn’t exactly an even match.

Victoria Azarenka (1) defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-2

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In between the matches I enjoyed lunch and some delicious crunchy munchies. These honey mustard pretzels were almost the death of me until I decided to just move away from the bowl. Two handfuls were plenty! On the right is a salty sweet popcorn mix that includes caramel corn and white cheddar popcorn.

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At 1pm the fun really began for me when I realized that one of my fellow University of Georgia alums was about to take the court! John Isner went to UGA from 2004-2007, during which time he played tennis all four years and lead UGA to the NCAA team title in 2007 on the home court in Athens, GA! Another random fact about this cutie who is 6’9 is that he holds the record for the longest match ever played in tennis history! His battle at Wimbledon against Nicolas Mahut lasted for 11 hours and 5 minutes, and ended with John’s 70-68 victory in the fifth set. HOLY cow! Can you imagine sitting through that?

Yesterday’s nail biter lasted just under four hours and was a close one that quickly filled the stadium and kept everyone screaming.

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John Isner (9) defeated Xavier Malisse 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-6 (11-9)

It was a hot day but we all had a blast relaxing and enjoying the US Open action!Macys PG US Open 2012IMG_4268

Who knew that they still update the scoreboard manually? Such a classic touch!\

If you live in the NY metro area, I can’t recommend a day at the US Open enough. Tickets can be found for reasonable prices, there are tons of fun restaurants, bars, and shops to keep even the least interested person entertained and it’s a great way to get some Vitamin D if you go during the day!

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Marathon Weight Gain

Today’s lovely guest post is from one of my favorite running bloggers who inspires many of us to run that extra mile each week. I mean heck, she eats marathons for breakfast on an almost weekly basis; or so it seems! If you’re new to my site first and foremost HELLO! Second of all, I hope you’ll stay for a while and check out not only SkinnyRunner’s story but also the other stories that have been shared over the past year as part of my Marathons+Moderation series. Not, I’ll turn it over to today’s expert and let her share her tips for managing the dreaded marathon weight gain.

Hey y’all, it’s SkinnyRunner. I blog over at the aptly titled SkinnyRunner about a bunch of crap, I mean, marathons and stuff.

When Ashley asked me to contribute to her Marathons + Moderations Series I thought, Well, that’s an honor. And then I thought, Uhhhhhh what am I supposed to write about?!

I thought about injury prevention, compression and Garmins, but decided to talk about something far more dreaded: marathon weight gain.

How?! It doesn’t even make sense! You run all these miles, put in months of work and end up gaining weight?!

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Life is a cruel, unfair thing.

Running is a very efficient exercise meaning you burn a lot of calories, but along with that comes a big appetite: your body needs fuel to run all those miles.

Fast forward 4 months: you’ve been training hard and have become used to your long runs and refueling heartily. Now you have 2-3 weeks of imposed taper where you still want to eat (marathon hunger, baby!) like you have a 20 miler on tap, but you’re resting.

Race day comes, you have an amazing day, and then suddenly it’s over and you’re again supposed to reverse taper and take up to a month off to rest and recover. But you still have that big appetite that you’ve gotten used to in the past 4 months! You’re enjoying your bigger meals and extra snacks, but your activity level isn’t matching your intake.

And that my friends, is how you can (some people do, some don’t) gain weight while running a marathon.

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So is there a solution or should I just never ever run except to the bathroom?

I would say to NOT run a marathon if you’re doing it ONLY to lose weight.

I love running and think everyone who can, should run one marathon in their lives to experience that amazing sense of accomplishment and culmination of all your hard work, but don’t do one just as another diet fad or way to drop pounds.

You might lose weight, you might not, but you could miss out on the enormity of your accomplishment because you’re only focused on a number on the scale. And frankly, I’ve heard of a lot more people gaining a couple pounds during marathon training than losing them.

Start using MODERATION to eventually match your intake (calories) to your outtake (exercise).

Enjoy yourself post-race: you deserve that beer, burger and whatever else you want. It’s your day; own it and be proud.

In the days after, slowly start taking a look at your diet to see what, if any changes need to be made. I’m not saying to drastically drop to a 1300 calorie diet all of the sudden because you’re not running 50 miles a week. There’s nothing moderate about that.

Instead, look at your afternoon snack: say for the past 3 months you’ve enjoyed a huge fruit smoothie and peanut butter sandwich. Great, nice and healthy. But now, maybe eat the same smoothie with an open-faced sandwich. You’re not doing anything drastic or depriving yourself while still making small adjustments to your eating.

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{That was a banana milkshake, not a smoothie}

Find another physical outlet or activity besides running.

Post-marathon it’s recommended to take a day off for every mile you’ve run, so nearly a month. Your body’s probably beat up and you might be burnt out mentally so take a couple complete rest days.

And then find something else active to do: maybe it’s simply walking, or taking a yoga class; whatever it is, do something. Your body will feel better, you will mentally feel better, and you’ll probably make healthier choices too.wordexercise2

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Don’t make it a big deal.

Life goes on and in the big picture, it just isn’t a big deal. That bump on the scale might be from muscle you’ve gained in your thighs and legs from all the miles you’ve logged. Either way, those legs carried you 26.2 miles, hot dang!

And if the couple extra pounds really bother you, you can always sign up for another marathon. Who wants to go run one with me?!

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What are your tips for keeping your weight in check when you’re training for a marathon, triathlon, or other major event?

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