Tuesday, August 14, 2012

New favorite breakfast

My hip still hurts, but not enough to keep me from running. I met Zani for a river loop this morning. I love how quiet it is in Charlestown at 6:45 in the morning, and I love getting home and having breakfast feeling totally relaxed the way I do after a good run. The Harborthon 5K is this Thursday, so I won't run again until then. Last year I came in 3rd and won a $200 gift certificate to Del Friscoes, a beautiful steak house on the waterfront. As much as I would like that to happen again, I'm doubtful that it will. I'm still hoping to give it my all on Thursday, though.

This past weekend Alex and I went for a run along the river via the new footbridge (have I mentioned how awesome the new footbridge is yet?) and then stopped by his cousin's coffee shop in the North End for breakfast. I tell this story because it's running related and allows me to write about my new favorite breakfast: an everything bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Yum. There were also tomatoes and capers on the bagel, and the cream cheese was filled with chives. The coffee was also delicious. I'm  looking forward to doing the exact same thing next weekend. Running + eating delicious breakfast foods is one of my all-time favorite things to do.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Olympic Illusions

I thought I had lost my will to run before I started watching the Olympics last week. There seems to be something about watching unbelievably fit athletes of all shapes and sizes who have trained long and hard to be at the peak of fitness to perform in their event that makes me think I'm one of them. I've found myself running faster and longer than I was originally planning to, imagining that everyone's eyes are on me, rooting for me... Similarly, after seeing the terrible Woody Allen movie To Rome with Love recently, I left the theater terrified that I might live in the same crazy world all the crazy people in the movie inhabited... My hip has been bothering me since Vermont City back in May, but lately it seems to be getting better. I ran about 8 miles on Sunday morning, and yesterday morning I met a friend for a magnificent run along the river to the BU bridge. I think I ended up doing 9 and a half or so, because in an effort to go across the new footbridge linking North Point Park with Paul Revere Park in Charlestown I got lost on the wrong side of the river and had to backtrack. Another runner asked me for directions to MGH while I was at my most-lost moment, and as I looked around confusedly, he said, in confirmation, "you look really confused." Running in the morning is something I'm going to try to do more of - I forget that it's such a great way to start the day. I was in a great mood for the rest of the day and felt very productive at work.

Today I'll do my 8-minute abs routine along with my push-up routine (I'm working on convincing Alex to buy me a pull-up bar that we can put up in the doorway to our bedroom - I think he resists because he's scared of how strong I'm becoming). My hip feels fine today but I don't want to risk putting too much strain on it. I've missed runs along the river, so looking forward to many more heading into the end of the summer.