Sometimes I write about how my runs were awesome and how I ticked off those 16 miles on my training plan like they were no big deal.
And then sometimes I have terrible, hard, humbling workouts that I can’t bring myself to get through.
Like tonight. I had this little gem on my training plan for today:
(That means 2 miles warm-up, 2 miles cool-down, and 5 repeats of 1200m [.75 miles] at an 8:00 pace with a 1:30 jog in between.)
Grrrrrrrrrreat, I thought as I read that last night. I woke up and decided to get some work out of the way before attempting my workout.
I ended up leaving it till about 4:30. Why do I do this to myself? Any time I run in the afternoon lately, it sucks. Anyway, I ran the 1.25 miles to the gym and warmed up for about another minute on the treadmill before jumping into the workout. After the first repeat, I was nauseous and sore. After the second repeat…I just couldn’t. I can usually push myself to get through a workout, but I just couldn’t today. I really need to just [wo]man up and get speedwork done. I left the gym and ended up running the 1.25 miles back home. It’s crazy that any other time, it would be awesome to just have gotten 4.5 miles done, but during marathon training when I should be doing speedwork and I don’t finish, it’s disappointing.
Something to work on, right?
At least I had good plans to catch up with a friend tonight.
My college roommate Jen is one of my favorite people, but we are really bad at making time to see each other. We always cancel on each other for some reason, but today she texted and asked if I had plans for tonight. Luckily, spontaneity worked in our favor and she came over and we hung out until we got hungry and took a walk to find a decent not-too-expensive-but-not-gross either meal. There is a serious hole-in-the-wall Mexican place in my ‘hood I want to try, but I just fear my stomach will hate it. And when Mexican is bad? Mexican is really bad…Yeah…anyway.
We ended up finding Patron Mexican Grill. It looked chill and not terribly expensive.
It’s Wednesday, but our waiter honored the all-day happy hour. Clearly we liked him for this.
Uh, he showed us with the tiniest margarita ever. I know you have no scale to this, and I have no idea why it’s all red, but this glass is approximately shot-glass sized.
Per usual, I got chicken tacos. Chicken tacos or fajitas are usually my Mexican go-to because they’re not terrible for you, and there’s usually a lot less cheese, which bothers my stomach. (Please keep in mind here: I LOVE CHEESE. My stomach does not. This dichotomy is incredibly unfortunate.)
Lately, my stomach can handle a little cheese. I thank it accordingly.
We sat at a long table, which would have been a lot more fun had two cute guys sat down next to us, but was still pretty fun.
Verdict? I’d definitely come back here. I’m happy to have a good, chill Mexican place in the ‘hood that I like. Welcome, Patron Mexican Grill. Just work on giving me a shot of Patron when I walk in the door and we’ll be all good.
Wow! I can’t hardly do this as a day. This will burned me out. How much time did you spent in your blog? If this is a whole day duration right? The pictures of food really makes me hungry. So delicious!
hahahaha – that elft reference is perfect.
crappy runs make the good runs all the better. it wouldn’t be training without a bad run every now and then. you are doing AMAZING with your training anyway! i have been so inspired by your kick-ass long runs and esp your sub2hr half.
on another note, i am also inspired about your drinks of choice and drinking abilities in general. 🙂
🙂 hopefully you and your friend will find two cuties!
Buddy the elf makes it all better!
Speedwork is always hard and puke inducing. I always get so pumped for it, but after the third repeat I feel like I’d pull a DJ Tanner and pass out at the gym.
Also for Mexican I like La esquina. Mostly for the Mexican corn and horchata. Maybe you should go with Cuban instead. There are so many great places in the city and they prepare it healthier!!
I have a friend exactly like that who I live in the same city with, but we can never make plans in advance. Whenever we do, one of us has to cancel, but the last minute stuff always seems to work out!
Ah, yes. I love that place. Good mexican food! I love that you can translate coach instructions. I still need to ask about any workout that doesn’t say basic or LR. lol
It’s true that it can be hit or miss, but sometimes hole-in-the-wall, sketchy-looking Mexican places are the best. Also, for reasons that I cannot fully explain, the absolute best Mexican food that I have ever had in New York was from a place owned by Japanese immigrants. In addition to guacamole, burritos and quesadillas, they also served sushi. Go figure.
@Molly: It’s mostly because of my sensitive stomach that I fear the really sketchy-looking places. And interesting. What was this place called? 🙂
I wish I got myself to the gym earlier but since school started again I have no desire to go @ 5AM :/ and get stuck going at 4PM or later… Love finding little but good hole-in-the wall restaurants! No wonder happy hour is “all day” with such small servings! I can’t handle much dairy either- I really only eat fat free Greek yogurt, skim milk, and light cheese cause they don’t seem to affect me too much…
All day happy hour? Sign me up. Glad your tum let you eat some delicious cheese!