Nashville Recommendations and Training Update

This past weekend I went to Nashville to visit friends.  Nashville is so wonderful - it's chock full of good restaurants, stores, bars, has tons of young people, and it's only 2.5 hours from Louisville.  Although I love Louisville, Nashville seems to be superior in all aspects, but I guess we're slowly catching up!

Here are some cool places we went to over the weekend:

Patterson House - the bar area has a Speakeasy feel to it.  The drinks are expensive but finely crafted!
Tavern - restaurant that also has an extensive bar and outdoor seating.  It has a modern feel to it and the food was good (we got the nachos with pork).
Cabana - restaurant with high ceilings and large garage-type doors that they open when the weather is nice.  Their pizzas are amazing (I got the shrimp & grits which were good, but no one can beat my mom's).
Fido - I like to go there every time I'm in Nashville.  Their breakfast/brunch/lunch is great (try the Huevos Cubano) and they make good lattes.  I've never gone there without having to wait in line for at least 10 minutes.

Needless to say, we ate well over the weekend, but that's not all we did.  On Saturday morning, my friend headed to Pure Barre class (which sounds intriguing) and I headed out to run.  Originally I said I was going to run 8 miles, then I lowered it to 7, then I lowered it to 6.  This run was going to be my main test as to whether I was going to pursue training for the 11/3 1/2 marathon here in Louisville.  My friend lives in an area of town called The Gulch (near downtown) so I ran through The Gulch and through another neighborhood called 12south.  12south reminded me a bit of Bardstown Road/The Highlands if you're a local reader.  I ended up running 7 miles and I felt pretty good!  My average pace was 9:36 and I was happy with that considering I ran a lot of hills and it was in the low 50s.  By the end of my run, I felt confident that I could take on the 1/2 marathon and run most if not all of it.  The plan now?  Continue to focus on my running and good strength training in hopes that I can do this race.  This coming Saturday I'd like to run 8-10 miles and then I will make an official decision. 

Today I am taking a rest day as I had my long run Saturday, a field hockey game Sunday (we are 5-0!), and then yesterday I went to Crossfit.  A friend of mine is a Crossfit-a-holic and has been asking me to join him for a while.  The WOD (Workout of the day) looked too technical for me, so my friend and I did our own WOD.  It went something like this:

100 feet walking lunges
50 pushups (me on my knees)
25 squats with a bar (I used a piece of PVC so no weight)
50 box jumps
5 rope pull-ups (laying down on the ground and pulling myself up via a rope attached to the ceiling)
25 V-ups (laying flat on the ground and bringing my arms and legs up and together)
50 sit ups

And I think that was it? So as you can see, I didn't do any weighted exercises except for using my own body weight.  It took us about 13 minutes to do everything and afterwards I really wasn't fatigued.  If I had  used weight that definitely would have made a difference, but I barely broke a sweat.  Maybe my friend underestimated my abilities? Afterwards he showed me some olympic style lifting exercises, I practiced them, and he was impressed with my ability to keep good form the entire time.  He said that my body type is ideal for Crossfit because I am small and compact. 

Today I am sore from the pushups and the sit ups.  I think going to Crossfit was just a one-time thing for me for a couple of reasons:

1. It's very expensive - at least $100/month.
2. It seems somewhat impersonal - a group does a WOD together, but you're so spread out and so tired that no one talks!
3. I still feel loyal to Kettle Bells, and I like my instructor and classmates.
4. Hardcore Crossfit peeps are jacked.  One of the instructors was close to my height and her thighs were like tree trunks.  To be 5'3" and so massive like that is not appealing to me.  I don't want to look butch!  If anything, I want to try and look as long and lean as possible for someone of my height.  Unfortunately, Kettle Bells also leans in that direction, but the beauty of my KB class is that it seems to be much more flexible. 

So anyway, again, I am taking a rest day.  Lately I feel as if I am sore non-stop so I am aiming to take two rest days per week. 

In closing, I wanted to acknowledge two of my Bourbon Chase teammates, including our captain Tim, who just ran the Chicago Marathon.  Way to go!