Hi there. Let’s recap this week, shall we? I could break this out into multiple posts separating workouts from playdates, but I’m lazy, so I won’t. Enjoy!
Monday- rest day. Because we used to do our long runs on Sundays, I got used to having Monday as a rest day, and it just kind of stuck like that. We’re still very active during the weekends, and havingMonday as a free night is so nice. It allows me to ease slowly into the work week. I’ve been doing my grocery shopping and other weekly prep on Monday nights rather than Sunday nights which has helped the weekends feel longer and fuller, so having extra time on Monday evening without worrying about working out has been fabulous.
It’s been fun spending more time with these monsters too
Weirdos.
Tuesday- early morning 3 mile run, evening hour of free yoga. Look at me, doubling up! This is my favorite combination ever. Getting up early to run gets me going strong for the day, and watching the sun set while stretching and relaxing is so refreshing and grounding at the same time. I met my new running buddy/neighbor for 3 quick and dirty miles before the sun was totally out, and it was rough. She’s quicker than me, and it hurts both my legs and my pride to work so hard to keep up, but I think it’s a good thing. You’ve got to run faster to get faster, right? At first, I was dying to maintain 10 minute miles with her. Now, I’m still dying, but our numbers are creeping down into the 9:50s! Progress!
In the evening, I took advantage of free yoga in Hoboken. I’d tried to go once earlier in the summer, but the instructor didn’t show up. I came back with a friend from work, and we were not disappointed this time. There was already a sizable crowd for the yoga, but there was also a 5k going on in the same area. It’s the Party with a Purpose 5k, and I’ve actually done it the past two years, but it’s always miserable. It starts at 7pm, when it’s still really, really hot in New Jersey in July, so you run through the crowded Hoboken streets in stifling humidity and basically want to die. When the information popped up in my inbox this year, I thought better of it and decided to downward dog instead. That’s right, I picked yoga over a road race. Who am I? Still, if I hadn’t been wearing flip flops, I might have thrown aside my mat and jumped in with the running masses. I do miss the excitement of racing. I think I’ll be registering for something soon.
Yoga was lovely even with the noisy crowds. Our instructor was a total trouper for yelling over the local radio DJ’s microphone, and it was fun watching the runners watch us make pretzels of ourselves.
Wednesday- rest day. The storms that have been threatening us finally rolled in on Wednesday night, and they arrived with vigor. I got drenched on my walk home because I’m far too impatient to wait in the train station like the other sane people. Nope, I prefer the drowned rat look. Anyway, as soon as I got home I needed to shower (is it weird that rain makes me feel like I need a shower?), so a run was not in the cards. I was so proud of Chris though who did come home and run on the treadmill without me. I would never have predicted that three months ago, but the boy is really a runner!
No matter, rainy days call for donning pajamas, reading books and eating hot food in my opinion, so that’s exactly what I did.
Thursday- early morning 3 mile run. Right as I was debating whether or not to run on rainy Wednesday night, my friend Debbie texted me and asked if I wanted to run on Thursday morning. That pretty much made the decision for me, so we met up in the morning for a much more pleasant three miles. The rain had cooled everything down significantly, and we even got a nice breeze. I felt less like death this time, so I must be improving.
An added plus was that those morning miles helped offset a little afternoon happy hour. Well, happy hours really. My coworkers and I visited the newly opened Surf City Bar in Jersey City. In a previous life, it was the (in)famous Sand Bar. I think you have to be from New Jersey to have heard of it. Anyway, it had a pretty sketchy reputation, so it closed and was recently reincarnated as a cute beachy bar miles away from any actual beach.
The weather was still overcast after Wednesday’s ridiculous storms, so you won’t get the full effect from these pictures, but Surf City does a nice job of achieving that Jersey Shore bar feel. Minus the Snooki.
The bar sits on a marina overlooking the Hudson River, so you can see some beautiful boats and watch the ferries come and go.
They have a normal bar set up, but they also have a little sand pit as well. Because we were there during the day, there were a few kids playing in the sand as their parents relaxed, but I’ve heard it’s less family friendly at night.
The fake palms and Margaritaville XM station give it a little bit of a Key West vibe, which is what they were going for, but we all found the musical selections too mopey for a happy hour crowd.
The absolute best part of Surf City? It’s so so so close to my apartment! You can actually see my apartment from here. Any happy hour that’s close to home (walkable!) is a great happy hour.
Friday- ran 3 miles. I was pretty impressed with Chris and I for getting 3 quick miles in before our date night. It was a hot one involving beautiful flowers, John’s pizza, gelato and The Newsroom. Wow that show is good!
Saturday- biked 7 miles. I met a friend in the city for brunch at Sarabeth’s (this meeting included me ending up at a bakery called Sarabeth’s in Chelsea before realizing that brunch was in TriBeCa. Oops). The place is adorable and the service is great, but the food was underwhelming. I ordered a goat cheese and spinach omelet, and it was bland. The blueberry corn muffin that came on the side, however, was delicious, so I’m thinking if I return again, sweet might beat out savory.
I came home and met up with Chris for a 7 mile bike ride through Liberty State Park to enjoy the seriously gorgeous weather that the week’s storms had brought us.
Afterwards, we finally went to see The Dark Knight Rises. I really enjoyed it. I won’t give anything away, but I’m glad they wrapped things up the way they did, and I think Joseph Gordon- Levitt is quickly becoming my favorite actor. There’s not much he can’t do.
Sunday- ran 3 miles. This was a fun day and a fun run! I woke up to homemade breakfast from the cutest boy ever, then quickly packed a beach bag and headed down to the Jersey Shore.
Once there, we ran our 3 miles along the boardwalk! It was a really wonderful change of scenery, and it primed us nicely to spend the day laying on the beach. We stopped for lunch before changing into bathing suits, and I was pleasantly surprised to find much more than the standard boardwalk fare in Long Branch.
Check out that salad! With apples, walnuts, dried cranberries and grilled chicken, it was fresh and filling.
Finally, it was time for the beach, and even though it was a traffic filled mess getting down there, we were glad we got to enjoy one of the nicest days of the summer at one of our very favorite places.
After a quick stop at Chris’ parents house to say hello (and be deliciously force fed) we headed back up North to collapse on the couch with a double header of The Bachelorette (didn’t like the format, but I’m so happy for Jef!) and Breaking Bad (meh, not my favorite; felt like filler).
totals:
- ran 12 miles
- biked 7 miles
- yoga’d 1 hour
It was a great week and weekend, and I’m more than a little sad to be back at work today, but, as is always the case in the summer, I’m working for next weekend. See ya then!
i broke my umbrella 
Must have been so fun to run along the boardwalk! And the yoga looks so neat- I’d love to do something like that. I need to start running more and the 3-mile distance is so perfect.
Holy busy week! Sounds awesome though.. ah I miss running so much!!! I can’t wait to get back into it.. in 6 months haha