Good Weekend with Good Friends

So we know I wasn’t healthy on Friday- but what about the rest of my weekend? It was a great one in lots of ways! I woke up Saturday morning with a slight food hangover, but that didn’t stop me from walking out of my apartment at 8:30 a.m. with an orange in hand and heading to JackRabbit Sports for a morning group run (more to come on JackRabbit at a later date!) While I tried to mentally prepare myself for a 10 mile run along the east river, we sampled some protein bars and energy chews from PowerBar.  Then it was time to hit the streets.

It wasn’t a good run for me.  I was tired physically and fighting myself every step of the way mentally.  But luckily a few nice conversations mid-way broke up the torture and by the end of the run I was pushing myself harder and going faster.  Map My Run hated me and didn’t restart after a pause halfway through the run, so my pace will remain a mystery, which is probably for the best considering how sluggish I was feeling.

When we got back to the store PowerBar was kind enough to raffle off 3 gift bags fullllll of treats (gels, chews, bars and water bottles, oh my!) but sadly I didn’t win.  I still snagged some samples though :) Their cookie dough bar was DELICIOUS but I liked the consistency of their new flavor, Peanut Butter and Jelly, much better since it was softer and easier to chew.  The rep said that they’re looking to switch most of their flavors over to that consistency.  I also tried the strawberry banana chew which was just like a tasty fruit snack (although a lot of people’s complaint was that it was way too hard to chew while they were running). 

(Thanks JackRabbit and PowerBar!)

I walked home, showered, and immediately needed fooooood! I made some egg whites with mushrooms, tomato, brussel sprouts and feta cheese (also known as, these were the things I needed to clear out of my fridge before I left for the rest of the weekend).

(So colorful!)

Then I headed out with my duffel bag to meet a friend for coffee (thank you Two Little Red Hens, for having almond milk!) Next stop, Grand Central Station to catch a train to my old college stomping grounds, Hamden CT!

It was so wonderful seeing my old roommate and it was like no time had passed.  In fact, one of the first things I did upon entering her apartment was say, “Don’t mind me- I need to get out of these jeans…” and immediately threw sweats on.  Typical. We snacked on some cantaloupe while catching up and deciding what to do for dinner.  This was quite the dilemma because usually, it wouldn’t even be a discussion.  I would head to Ray & Mike’s Deli for a greasy, fattening sub and a bag of munchies mix with a can of Arnold Palmer.  Unfortunately, the fact that I gave up meat for Lent prevented me from eating chipotle pulled chicken with bacon and cheddar or pulled pork with bacon mac and cheese (you’re drooling now, aren’t you?) We finally settled on Panera, where the woman taking our order’s had some interesting things to say (“You know you’re really pretty? Did you hear what I said, how is your day? Did you go to the Olympics?). I ordered the black bean soup and the Mediterranean shrimp couscous salad. 

The salad was one of those salads that changed my life. I was obsessed and I really wish I had just ordered that and skipped the soup.  The soup was fine (although it looked like toxic sludge) but the salad was just oh so amazing and I wanted more more more. 

Next on the agenda was a March Madness party.  My friend is so domesticated- look what she made! (We have both come so far from the days of not knowing the first thing about anything kitchen related). 

(So impressive, Nicole!)

At the party I was able to stick to (mostly) black bean and corn salsa with tortilla chips (and maybe a few bites of chocolate chip cheesecake).  I may or may not have won 9 games of beer pong in a row while drinking only water with Pink Lemonade Dasani Drops.  Because I’m that good.

Since I had run 10 miles that morning, I’m really not surprised that by the end of the night, it was time for a 1 a.m. snack of an apple and good old PB <3

My friends couch was absurdly comfortable and I slept like a baby until my alarm went off at 9:30 and it was time for a run.  Again, awful. Painfully slow and not at all enjoyable.  It was cold, I was alone, and the path was straight, flat and b-o-r-i-n-g.  But I made it 4 miles. And then I stopped at a local deli for SNICKERDOODLE COFFEE! Yum.

(I'm actually kind of embarassed to post this...I'm kinda sorta "a runner," I swear I can do better!) 

Again, my roommate outdid herself by cooking us all brunch, the most sacred of all meals! Oatmeal (I may or may not have brought my own bag of oatmeal mixed with pecans, raisins, PB2 and cinnamon), cantaloupe, scrambled eggs, chocolate chip pancakes, and turkey sausage (which I sadly couldn’t enjoy). 

(I LOVE BREAKFAST FOODS)

The rest of the day was spent at the Women’s NCAA Frozen Four final game between Minnesota and Clarkson held at the beautiful TD Bank Arena at Quinnipiac!

It was an AWESOME game, with Clarkson clinching the upset and the championship 5-4.  We were seated right near the Clarkson pep band and I would just like to thank them for playing Aladdin and “If I Only Had a Brain” from the Wizard of Oz after a bad call by the refs.  Thumbs up!
 

(Congratulations, Clarkson!)

Also thumbs up? Meghan Duggan the captain of the Women’s USA Olympic hockey team sitting 2 rows behind me! I recognized her before anyone else did, and wanted to ask for a picture, but not while she was watching the game.  Then came intermission and she was SWARMED.  It was awesome to see little girls who play hockey so excited to see her and have their jersey’s signed.  At the end of the game I was able to get a picture.  It makes me really upset that these female hockey players don’t get more recognition.  They are incredibly talented and amazing athletes and some of the most exciting hockey games I’ve seen were women’s games (like the 2010 ECAC Quarterfinal game between Quinnipiac and Rensselaer that is the second longest game in college hockey history and went into 5 overtimes!)

(Me with Meghan Duggan, so cool!)

I passed out pretty much immediately on my train ride home. When I got back, I made myself dinner (black bean soup and more egg whites with mushrooms, feta and tomato) and dessert (a cookies and cream quest bar) and crawled into bed.  Such a happy weekend!

Monday was tricep and chest day at the gym, which I struggled through before going on a 3.5 mile run around Central Park. Got my food shopping done for the week (although I’m sure I’ll stop at least 20 times between now and Friday to buy even more food) made dinner and even took out the trash.  Take that, Monday!