Tag Archives: pizza

Will Run for Pizza

Last night Lacey came over to catch up and help me carb-load. My marathon is in 51 days, so I better start now, right?

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I had just gone food shopping and offered to make pasta, but she said she really wanted to try the Trader Joe’s pizza dough so she bought some and brought it over, along with all the toppings. I didn’t complain. Edited to add: we used this recipe from Eating Well. 

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We spread the dough into a cookie sheet and cooked it in the oven for 10 minutes. I’ve never done this before, and my pizza always ends up either overdone or under-done, so I’m going to try this next time.

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Caramelized onions.

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Chopped tomatoes.

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The pizza with the tomato sauce, onions, and mozzarella, all ready to go in the oven.

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I can tell you for a fact that not all of that mozzarella made it onto the pizza. A good amount made it into our mouths. For quality control purposes, obviously.

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As usual, someone was sleeping on the job.

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Once the pizza came out of the oven for the second time, we added prosciutto.

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For the final touch, we added the mixture of arugula and tomatoes (tossed in lemon, olive oil and salt and pepper.)

We decided to skip a side salad since there was salad on top of the pizza.

Unpictured: the wine-induced dance party had while cooking. I’ve been doing it wrong this entire time. Wine + Beyonce = much more fun.

This morning’s run!

This morning I had ~8 miles of speedwork on my schedule:

2 miles warm up, 6x1K (~.62 miles) at 7:52 pace with 1:15 rest in between, 2 miles cool-down.

I’ve heard that you’re not supposed to work on increasing speed and distance at the same time, but both this year and last year, I’ve found that I’ve definitely gotten faster while marathon training. For me, it seems like it’s because after running something like 18 miles, anything shorter than that feels like nothing.

I ran 18 miles? Dude, I can push myself for 1K.

Speedwork is hard and definitely my least favorite sort of run, so I can’t say I was looking forward to this workout–especially since I was still a little sore from Tuesday’s Soul Cycle despite a much-needed sports massage yesterday. But although I don’t usually run with music, I set my iPhone to play my 25 top-played songs, set my Garmin for my workout, and hit the river. No pictures because I was running my ass off.

1K Splits:

1: 4:54 (7:54 pace)

2: 5:03 (8:09 pace)

3: 4:50 (7:48 pace)

4: 4:58 (8:02 pace)

5: 4:43 (7:38 pace)

6: 4:43 (7:38 pace)

Half of them were well below my target pace. I’ll take it! Okay, I guess I dread speedwork, but I don’t hate it, because I felt pretty badass when I was done. True story: during those tough 1Ks, I totally channeled Ali and Emily. They are my speedy motivators. (I also thought about really wanting to do some 5Ks once I’m done with the marathon.)

Do you dread speedwork, too? Who or what motivates you through tough runs?

Funemployment: Otto Review + Giveaway Winner!

I’d still rather have a job (seriously, the grass is always greener), but I’m finally putting a little more fun in funemployment. It’s also awesome that I can workout on my own schedule right now, although I’m still trying to work out in the mornings just so that I can beat the heat.

This morning, Coach Marc had four miles on my training plan. I’m “assigned” three strength workouts per week that I can fit in whenever I want, so I decided to try doing one after my run today. (I really like that there’s a specific emphasis on strength training in this plan and hoping I can lean out a little bit while marathon training.)

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It was after 9 by the time I started, and it was already incredibly (like 85% incredibly) humid, so my run certainly didn’t come easy to me. I’m also getting a little sick of running my West Side Highway path, but it’s the easiest place to get to quickly with minimal city street running.

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The cloud cover actually burned off pretty quickly, and I was seriously struggling by the time I was done.

I stopped at Duane Reade to get some coconut water, since I desperately needed to rehydrate (weirdly enough the sangria I had last night didn’t do it) and came back to my apartment to use the building’s gym to lift. I’m still self-conscious in the weight room, and my apartment gym seems like a nice place to get used to it. I only know a few people in my building, and so I feel like the embarrassment potential is low. Of course, I walked in this morning, and one of those few people was the only person in there with his trainer. I thought of making up some excuse about something I forgot in my apartment, but I stayed and did my workout:

Bench Press 2 x 12 reps (40 pounds)

Squats 2 x 10 reps (20 pounds)

Dips 2 x max (my max was 16)

Calf Raises 2 sets (Inside, Outside, Straight x 15 reps) <–that video is pretty hilarious, but it’s a good demonstration

Back/Shoulder Press 2 x 10 reps

Back Extensions 2 x 15 (I just did them on the ground…)

Running Arms 2 x 25 (I used a 10 pound weight in each arm, and this is my new favorite exercise. I can feel it working my arms and my entire core.)

After sweating out last night’s sangria, I took a quick shower and my mom came over so we could meet Lacey and her mom (who was in town from Missouri) at Otto for lunch. If you have been living under a rock, Otto is Mario Batali’s pizzeria. I’d heard of it, but apparently I’d been living under a rock because I’d never been there.

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We sat down, and I checked into Foursquare and saw that I got a free glass of Prosecco with pizza or pasta! Well, okay. If you insist.

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Creepiest photo ever. The lighting was really weird in there. From L-R: (I think) some sort of chutney, cherries and honey for the cheeses. Also, apparently I hold my camera really weird.

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Better.

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The moms. There’s a cute photo of the four of us, but it’s on my mom’s camera, which is already back in NJ.

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Our cheeses: triple Coach cream, Parmiagano Reggiano, Gorgonzola Dulce

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We also got their lentil and cauliflower, which were actually my favorite part of the meal.

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I forgot the name of the pizza my mom got, but it had pecorino cheese and an egg–I thought of Meghann and her eggs on pizza.

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I got the pizza with proscuitto and arugula. It was good, but a little saltier than I would have liked.

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Oh, and last night I went to a panel that some editors from The Onion and Anderson Cooper. Yes, he is one hot silver fox. I was definitely geeking out.

But you really don’t care about any of this. You just want to know if you won a pretty necklace…

Well!

I asked for your greatest accomplishments, and I was amazed by all of the wonderful accomplishments you all listed. From the sweet moms who wrote about their kids being their greatest accomplishments to overcoming illness, I smiled reading each and every comment. If you need to smile or a little dose of inspiration, I suggest reading the comments.

And the winner (via the giveaway winner plugin) is!

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Congrats Laura!!! Can you email me (theodora@losingweightinthecity.com) so we can get you your prize? 😀