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Exercise, Life, NYC, Running, Weekend

Half Marathon Recap + Weekend

October 10, 2016 By Robyn 14 Comments

This weekend was one of those weekends where you rest, but you also do fun things. And when your weekend only consists of Saturday you soak it up. So basically I shut down work from Friday evening to Sunday at 9am when I headed off to clinical.

I’m trying to get much better at stepping away from email and work for at least a whole 24 hours on the weekend so it feels like total and complete rest. My brain gets a full break from work and productivity. It’s so needed refreshing.

halfmarathonrecap

Friday, I left clinical at 5pm and took the subway to Nick’s apt to meet him for dinner. Originally, he was going to cook dinner for all of us running the race, but then their water heater broke and the handy guy had to come and it was a whole thing. So the two of us just grabbed Dig Inn. I went with chicken, sweet potatoes and sautéed kale on top of a butternut squash farro mixture that was awesomely chewy. Nick got the same thing except he went with the meatballs.

About this half marathon. I didn’t really write about it on the blog or social media, but I was originally signed up to run the NYC marathon on November 6th through the charity, Team For Kids. Well 3 weeks into my summer semester I had a full blown break down to Nick. Like…you know the works…tears, saying irrational and overdramatic things and feeling overwhelmingly stressed, but not knowing what to do about it. Fundraising + training for a full marathon was the no brainer thing to come off my plate. It was a hard decision since the NYC marathon last year was an unreal experience and I also had a few friends running with me this year. But it was very necessary. With everything going on, training for 26.2 miles would have been a very unproductive source of stress and very unhealthy for this season of life. So $360 of entry fees went down the drain, but I felt so relieved with that pressure gone.

halfmarathonrecap

And instead Nick texted me in July and was like let’s do this half! Nicks more of a HIIT or weights guy so running wasn’t his original jam. But with me brainwashing him, every so slowly, he’s started sipping the kool-aid. Of course I was like YES let’s do this and then a few other guys signed up and we were in. I love that with the half marathon, it’s a shorter time commitment to train, and it involves loads less time devoted to training. I’m not sacrificing sanity sustaining social life or my non negotiable sleep for some miles. No thank you.

halfmarathonrecap

Did I follow a training plan? Meh, kind of. I knew I couldn’t follow any “plan” since life is busy right now and I don’t have a set schedule and I’m not the most disciplined. Some days I’m up till 12:30am with clinical and sleep till 8am. Some nights I’m asleep by 9:30pm and up at 6am. So I did the best I could which was just fine with me. Nick and I got in a few 10 milers and then I did one 12 miles 3 1/2 weeks before the race.

I ran my fastest marathon back my freshman year of college so I wasn’t trying to beat that (I would have to go under 1:40, not happening:)) but I just wanted to have fun and ENJOY it.

halfmarathonrecap

The race started at 7am in Brooklyn so I was up at 5am, drank coffee, did the bathroom bizzzz and took some apple cinnamon oatmeal on the train. I met the boys when I got there at by 7am and we were off with the sunrise!

I felt great the whole time and looking back, probably ran a bit conservatively. But I’d rather feel good and enjoy the race than feel like crap and want to die. The last 5k was speedy and exciting as we finished in Prospect Park. I was SO proud of Nick for crushing it, finishing in 1:37:06 and was pretty pumped to finish in 1;45:23. I told Nick we were running the NYC marathon next year when we’re married and I got a dramatic eye roll…little does he know we are, in fact, running it.

halfmarathonrecap

halfmarathonrecap

We originally had plans to go on a big group wine tasting tour in Long Island. Nick and I were driving out there to meet them afterward since everyone else left at 8am, but we were wayuyyy too ambitious and realized we would only have a couple hours out there since it was a 2 hour drive to get out there. So we bagged it and brunched instead.

halfmarathonrecap

After we got back home and showered, we met up at Jacob’s Pickles on the Upper West Side. If you want an insanely good, southern brunch, I highly recommend this place. But just be prepared to wait a bit. We got coffees and sat outside for 45 minutes and then were seated. A bloody mary split with Nick, pumpkin biscuits with maple butter started us out and were amazing. I ordered the southern BLT which was fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, bacon and a pickle slaw (that was so good!) on a biscuit.

halfmarathonrecap

Then we layed around at my apartment and watched 3 hours of Property Brothers on HGTV, ate chips and salsa and cracked a bottle of red wine in the evening. And now we are dreaming of a house. Side note: I need fresh flowers, don’t judge.

halfmarathonrecap

Nick went to watch the Cub’s game and I met a girlfriend for dinner before heading to my friend Jena’s birthday party. I only lasted an hour or so till 9:15 before I literally couldn’t hold open my eyes. I came home and was passed out by 10pm.

Sunday morning was spent reading and doing a couple blog things and then I went to clinical all day until church at 5 where one of my good friends was baptized. Full heart. Love that.

halfmarathonrecap

Afterward Nick and I did our usual post church dinner at Lantern where we ordered our usual – veggie red curry for me and beef red curry for him. And then I subwayed home and ate two of these chocolates while writing this post.

halfmarathonrecap

Hope your weekend was restful and you’re ready for the week. It’s like legit chilly weather here and I’m ALL ABOUT IT.


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Filed Under: Exercise, Life, NYC, Running, Weekend

« Maybe We’re Too Hard On Ourselves
Daily Eats [Including Lots Of Pumpkin!] »

Comments

  1. Hillary Gras says

    October 10, 2016 at 7:39 am

    Wow congratulations on the half!! Amazing time. Do you also own all the friends DVDs?!

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      October 14, 2016 at 2:21 pm

      ha! my roommate does!

      Reply
  2. Savannah Thaler,RD says

    October 10, 2016 at 8:13 am

    Always enjoy reading your weekend recaps. It’s such a good reminder of how important that break from all things work really is. And thank you for sharing your store about dropping the marathon from your plate. I needed to hear that and I am in a season of figuring out where to pour myself and what things I need to pull back from in order to do all things to the best of my ability and in a health state of mind. Have a great week!

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      October 14, 2016 at 2:21 pm

      it’s SO hard to say no, but do what is best for YOU. We aren’t suppose to do it all and thanks okay. xoxo

      Reply
  3. Hannah R says

    October 10, 2016 at 8:14 am

    Congrats on the awesome race finish!!! I pulled out of a full this year too, and am doing a half instead. Sometimes life happens 🙂

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      October 14, 2016 at 2:20 pm

      yep and it’s totally okay. Good luck!!!

      Reply
  4. Bethany @LuluRuns says

    October 10, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    Haha, I love how Nick is “drinking the cool-aid” I’m in the process of convincing my husband to run a full with me this fall too;)
    He’s a runner, but not as excited about the full as I am.
    So excited for you and Nick! Marriage is a beautiful, beautiful thing. God is so gracious.

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      October 14, 2016 at 2:19 pm

      ha…give it time 🙂
      thank you so much! God is crazy good 🙂

      Reply
  5. Abby says

    October 10, 2016 at 3:40 pm

    I ran the NYC marathon with Team for Kids! It was an amazing experience, and I’m so glad I did it…once. I discovered that I am definitely not meant to run marathons. I’m convinced my body thought I was trying to kill it, and I actually gained 10 pounds. Zumba and yoga for me! No shame in knowing your body and what it needs at any given time.

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      October 14, 2016 at 2:19 pm

      good for you for knowing what YOU need!!

      Reply
  6. Sam @ Grapefruit & Granola says

    October 10, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    I admire you trying to shut things off and relax for the weekend. I’m in the midst of trying to start my own side RD practice and the weekend is like my prime time to get things done. But then I have no time to recharge before going back to my full-time job on Monday.

    I’m glad you guys had a good race, nice brunch and property brothers + wine. Sounds about perfect to me!

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      October 14, 2016 at 2:19 pm

      It’s so hard to fight for that balance! But what I’ve learned is that shutting it down is the key to staying passionate and sane 🙂 good luck!

      Reply
  7. Sarah @ BucketListTummy says

    October 11, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    Pumpkin biscuits with maple butter? Sounds like you still rocked the race, despite your busy, crazy hectic life. You go girl. Your weekend sounds absolutely perfect to me – running, brunching, property brothering, wining, sleeping early.

    Reply
    • Robyn says

      October 14, 2016 at 2:17 pm

      they were insanely amazing!! hope you have a fab weekend 🙂

      Reply

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A non-diet dietitian and nurse practitioner helping women find peace with food, accept their natural body size and heal from hormonal issues and period problems.

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