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high line park

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Jen

Before leaving the city yesterday, we took a stroll on the new High Line Park after breakfast.

The High Line was originally constructed in the 1930s, to lift dangerous freight trains off Manhattan’s streets.  In June 2009, they opened the first section of the park, which will eventually be 1.5 miles long stretching from the West Side neighborhoods of the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen.  Right now, it is only 4-5 blocks long.

I was not sure what to expect, but it was pretty cool to see an elevated park in the city.  It was such a beautiful day, that tons of people were just hanging out.

It runs over the streets and through some buildings.  And, has some pretty spectacular views as well. (The Statue of Liberty is in the background here)

It was a pretty cool way to spend the last few minutes of our time in New York City!  And, a nice way to stretch my legs after breakfast and before our car ride home.

I ended up snacking all day yesterday, so I didn’t snap any photos.  Sometimes after long runs, I want substantial meals, but sometimes my stomach doesn’t really cooperate and I just like small snacks.  I do try to keep them all fairy healthy, and make sure to drink a lot of water and coconut water to prevent myself from getting dehydrated.  Yesterday included a lot of pretzels, macaroons and kale chips – random, but what I wanted.

This morning, I woke up and was finally craving some protein, but I still felt a little dehydrated, so I whipped up a Cherry Chocolate Bomb Smoothie.  With the addition of maca (1 tsp), Chocolate Amazing Grass (1 scoop) and extra cacao nibs (1 tbsp).

I added the Chocolate Amazing Grass to sneak some greens into my breakfast!  Plus, it just makes it more chocolaty and who doesn’t love that?!  It hit the spot.

Lunch was finally some real greens – A whole wheat wrap with hummus, lettuce, sprouts, cucumber and avocado.


And, a side of Cheesy Kale Chips and coconut water.

With a sweet and juicy tangelo for a mid-afternoon snack.

For dinner, we wanted something quick.  After being away for a weekend, the last thing I want to do is cook, but I also crave home cooked meals.  Our Lentil Almond Stir-fry was the best of both worlds.

We substituted a bit for this recipe since we didn’t have all of the ingredients.  Broccoli for Brussels sprouts, Creamer potatoes for purple potatoes.  It still tasted delicious, I loved the broccoli in it.

On the side, we served a small side salad of red lettuce leaves with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Simple, yet delicious.  Got to get in those greens and make up for yesterday! 🙂

I feel exhausted tonight, my body is still in recovery mode, so i’m taking it easy and vegging on the couch.  After an endurance event, it’s very important to listen to your bodies cues.  I have been chugging water all day and trying to stretch out my tight hip flexors every few hours.  I think some yoga and the elliptical or a walk is in store for tomorrow to stretch it out even more.

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Filed under: Eating Laps | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

nyc half marathon recap

Posted on March 22, 2010 by Jen

Yesterday was a gorgeous day for a run through New York City! The race started promptly at 7:35am, so I set my alarm for 4:45am to have time to wake up, eat, digest, get dressed and make my way up to Central Park for the NYC Half Marathon (you can see my training here!).

Once I finally got out of bed, I made myself a cup of tea and an Ezekial english muffin with a small spread peanut butter and 1/2 sliced banana.

This pre-race breakfast has been my perfect fuel for every one of my half marathons and marathons!  It has the perfect amount of carbs, proteins and just a little bit of healthy fats from the PB.  Normally, I would drizzle a bit of honey on top for some sugar, but I forgot to bring it!

Check out how dark it is out at 5am.  (I took this picture on my brother’s kitchen window sill.)

After some eating and relaxing time, I was all ready to head out. (note to my photographer: photos from this angle are not good!)

When we got to Central Park, it was unbelievable how many people were there!  Apparently, there were about 12,000 runnners.

We met Sarah, and headed over to the corals to line up.

I lined up in the 4th coral, but there were bib numbers up to 14,000!  So many people.

After about 10 minutes of waiting around, the runners were finally off!  But, I didn’t cross the start for 4 minutes.

The first few miles were tough because of the amount of people, but after that I got into a groove.  It was gorgeous running through Central Park on such a nice day.  Although, that park is hilly!  I saw Brant at Mile 4.

After running up and down hills throughout the Park, my brother met me at mile 5.5 to keep me on pace for the remainder of the race – what an awesome brother!

We ran through the park for a few more miles, and exited onto 7th Ave at Mile 8, then ran down 7th through Times Square – it was amazing to run through Times Square!!  I wish I had my camera with me for you to see the views.  At least my spectators got some shots of us running through.

That’s my brother next to me, keeping me going strong!

After we got through Times Square and onto the West Side Highway around Mile 10, my legs wanted to slow down so badly, but he kept pushing me!  He stayed a few steps ahead of me and made sure I wasn’t getting too far behind.  I tried so hard to push myself and keep up for those last 3.1 miles.  They were definitely the hardest 3 miles I have ever run!  Once I hit Mile 12, I really pushed to the finish, which my last mile being a 7:50 pace!

I crossed the finish line in 1:50:35!!!  My fastest half marathon time yet!  I set a personal best for the day, and pushed myself harder than I ever thought I could.  I was all smiles when I finished.

But, exhausted as well. 

I immediately went back to shower so that I could eat this amazing breakfast (very unhealthy for healthylaps!  but, a delicious post race meal – I deserved it, right?!).

Buttermilk Pancakes with Caramelized Bananas

It was an awesome day, running through such am amazing city!  I would do this race again in a second.

Filed under: Running Laps | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »