I ran a lot yesterday. And I love you all for your incredibly kind responses to my new personal distance record. You make me feel super good.
I thought I would crash pretty hard after banging out 15+ miles, but I felt surprisingly good after taking a long shower and inhaling a tub of hummus.
So I went shopping. I hit up Lower 5th Avenue where I did some damage at Anthropologie and Lululemon.
Oops.
Chalk it up to a running reward, yes?
Of course, by the time I finished shopping, I was ready to eat.

I’ve been so hooked on 16 Handles lately that I have completely neglected my old friend Mr. Softee. But yesterday this little truck just appealed to me, so I went for it.




It hit the spot for about two seconds. Then the heat got to it, I dripped it all over my feet and I was a mess.
Still delicious.
Always sexy.
I was still awake by dinner time, so I went out to dinner with my old roommate. We had a lovely time catching up, and when we wrapped up the meal she came at me with this:
“I’ve never had 16 Handles. I want to try it!”
Twist my arm, Conroy.
Naturally I felt it was my civic duty to take her there.
It did not bother me in the slightest that I had devoured a giant ice cream cone mere hours earlier.
Ice cream, take two:




The verdict?




She liked it! Or at least, she told me she did. Honestly, if I ever take someone to 16 Handles and get a mediocre reaction, our friendship will be on the rocks.
I was back home around 9:30 pm, at which point the day’s activities started catching up with me.
Or maybe I was just crashing and burning from a serious sugar high.
Either way, as 10:00 neared, my bed was looking oh-so-good.




Turns out, I’m not the only one who was exhausted last night!




Hehe.
So off to bed I went.
Naturally going to sleep that early meant my body was ready to start the day at 6 am today.
I got up, did a few things around the apartment, then forced myself to lay back down.
And I’m so glad I did, because I slept for another hour and a half. You’re welcome, body.
Coach Cane wanted me running four recovery miles today, so that’s what I did.
I didn’t start running until 8 am, at which point it was already hot and sunny outside. But it was nice running along the river, and it was a nice change of pace from the Central Park stomping grounds I’ve been sticking to lately.




My legs aren’t sore at all today, which is cool. Maybe that means I can try to run faster next time?
I maintained an 8:45 pace today, which surprised me. Yay legs! Good job.
I finished running, felt good, changed sweat clothes…and then went to the gym.
I know.
Coach Cane didn’t tell me to.
But I really wanted to do spinning.




I signed up early, then spent a while stretching, foam rolling and working my arms and abs.
Unfortunately, the spin instructor I normally adore on Sunday mornings wasn’t in, so we were stuck with a boring sub. Her energy was low, but her music was decent.
I didn’t turn the resistance up very much throughout the class and let my legs just comfortably push the wheel around.
By the time the 45-minute class was over, I was done.




That, my friends, is the face of exhaustion.
With all that sweat behind me, I was ready to attempt an enjoyable Sunday.
I grocery shopped (in my sweat clothes), I showered, I ate a buttload of trail mix and then I met up with a friend to explore Governor’s Island!
Governor’s Island is located just south of Manhattan, and you can get there by a free ferry. Score!




There are no cars allowed on Governor’s Island and lots of people either bring their own bikes or rent bikes and ride them around. Apparently the island is 5 miles around, so you can do a decent amount of running, riding or whatever.
What we chose to do was eating.
There was a food festival happening, so we jumped right on that and ate our faces off.




I love some good BBQ.




Holy steroid face. Make it go away…








After seriously stuffing our faces, we walked around the island a bit to explore. Turns out, there’s some really weird recycled art installation things all over.




I was freaked out by it.
I was also incredibly disappointed by all the signs saying “Do not climb on the art.”
If I can’t figure out what it is and I’m not allowed to climb on it, what is the point?




Governor’s Island was adorable and I definitely want to go back and ride bikes. I appreciated the city views and the nice breeze coming off the water.




Also, go there and check out the “beach” — and by beach I mean there’s some sand and a lot of beer.




Now I’m exhausted in every sense of the word.
And because I’m out of energy, I will sign off simply by showing you this picture of a dog that is smiling:




TELL ME: What was the highlight of your weekend?
0 Responses
First, I never had the chance to congratulate you on your Saturday long run! Nicely done, Ali! In the past week, I’ve gone out for frozen yogurt 4 times. Each time, I go with someone new. I love to excuse to introduce them to my heaven full of chocolatey toppings!
PS – You look adorable, Ali!
What a great end to your weekend!! Glad you’re feeling good after the long run, and clearly you are getting faster and recovering better! Summer makes me so happy for lots of these reasons – froyo, dresses, walking around outside, cute dogs 🙂 That dress is SO cute on you, Ali!! Hope you have a great Monday!
haha, I love that little dog! Your Saturday night was eerily similar to mine – I am super fun during marathon training 🙂 And I also visited 16 Handles multiple times this weekend – it was necessary. This weekend was so gorgeous – if only they were all like that! Let’s run together this week? Happy Monday!
The fact that you ran 15.5 miles and weren’t sore the next day is spuer impressive! (and I’m pretty jealous….sorry, just had to put that out there.)
Picking the 1 highlight of the weekend is like picking a favorite child (or something…) – watching the first finishers of saturday’s 10k finish, shaved ice at the hester street fair, margaritas outdoors, and sangria on the roof were all highlights! (why is it monday?)
haha, you definately deserved to award yourself… What an awesome weekend! Weather looked nice too
Cheers
I went to a food festival and ate fro-yo twice this weekend too! 🙂 what more could you ask for in a weekend? Well I guess I didn’t see any cool art! Have a happy Monday!
I had so many highlights just like you! I got home from working a dance camp in Kansas at 2am on Friday so I slept the whole morning and some of the afternoon before getting my butt to the gym and then finishing the night with some frozen yogurt at a cute little ice cream place near me. Saturday included a muscle workout and then heading to a dance benefit show that my company performed in and today? A 9-mile bike ride along the beach and some hungry girl cupcakes. Not too shabby. But I NEED a 16 Handles near me ASAP… pinkberry just isn’t cuttin it for me!
xo Marie
Chocolate and Wine
ice cream and exercise: the perfect combo. governer’s island looks sweet, hope to make it there soon. what a fun weekend.
highlight of my weekend: trapeze swinging, for sure.
I am so guilty of rewarding myself for fitness milestones with shopping. It makes me ridiculously happy.
The highlight of my weekend was a kick ass swim at my triathlon today! PR swim time by 5 minutes! Woot woot!
Kudos on the run! I want to go spin….like right now…haha
My very first race ever was on Governor’s Island! I am going back next month for a concert. Also, I was already asleep when you tweeted that!
I’m insanely jealous of your long run (Congrats) and your double ice cream day. Anddd the highlight of my weekend was a Friday night eating eggplant fries, zucchini chips, and chocolate peanut butter covered frozen bananas with my friend. Watching “Say Yes to the Dress.” And drinking wine, clearly.
I have to get to Governor’s Island! Looks like you had a ton of fun there! Question are there any water fountains on the east side? I have yet to find one.
Yes! By the dog parks!
The highlights of my weekend were definitely:
– Setting my own PDR (8 miles!)
– New sunglasses
– 16 Handles today (your blog has given me a serious addiction)
Definitely a good one!
The highlight of my weekend is right now! The hubs and I are grilling and drinking some beers out on our deck together! These are the best kinds of days!
I know I say this a lot on your blog…but you are such an inspiration to me! I have my longest run coming up this week (14 miles) and I’m super nervous! But when I see you blast through it, I get some hope!!!
Have a great week!
I’m honored to be in the list of tweeters who approved of your early bedtime AND I’m impressed that you did, in fact, enjoy both Mr. Softee and 16 Handles in the same day. So scandalous. 😉
I always got grocery shopping in my sweaty gym clothes!
I was in bed super early last night too. We went to a BBQ and thebf drank way to much so I drove him home where he puked and then past out (after I made him brush his teeth, of course). He chose the couch to pass out on.. so I went to bed. 🙂
hahaha what a cute little dog!
i’m glad you were able to get in a nice run and some spin time! governors island sounds great… never been before but i’m going to dave matthews there at the end of august so thanks for a lil preview!
sounds like this weekend treated you well! xo