Back to Reality

I've been back in NYC for a full week now and unfortunately my trip seems like a distant memory. In typical me fashion, I had a giant to-do list for when I got back here.  And in typical me fashion, I got it all done immediately. Duh. I am now just starting to feel settled, but I am off to Chicago on Thursday for a week. Geez, I am such a jet-setter this summer!

As soon as I got home last Saturday, I knew what had to be done. First things first, I needed to do all my laundry, unpack my suitcase fully and put everything away. I can't go to bed without being fully unpacked, organized, and settled. It's the little OCD in me. I also ordered myself a nice juicy cheeseburger since I missed that American meal oh-so-much while away. And for the record, it tasted incredible. I then immediately downloaded all my pictures from my camera and phone but got super overwhelmed to go through them right away since there were about 1800 pictures. Eventually, a couple days later I got to it and even ordered some pics and made my photo album. It came in the mail yesterday and is awesome. I looked it over and over. And over again. I wanna go back. 

On top of everything else to do, there was also the giant task of clearing my DVR. Rough life. It was 100% full when I got back and had already deleted stuff from my first few days away. I decided to take on my DVR by show (not day) and watched three or four episodes of one show and then moved to another. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it! I am not ashamed to admit watching many unseen episodes of Princesses: Long Island and Below Deck in a row was pretty great!

In my time back, I also needed to get on the consistent workout track again. After all, I am still planning to run the NYC Marathon in November so I need to get on par with my training. Well guess what? After running along the Mediterranean Sea, the Thames River, Lake Lucerne, and a few other places, Central Park kind of lost its luster. I kind of knew that would happen, but damn, it was a bummer. I know in a few more days or so, I will get used to it again and be fine. Thankfully, today was Summer Streets so I got to run down Park Avenue. It's one of my favorite events of the year and look forward to it every summer. It's a great change of pace for running scenery and I did my long run for the weekend today to take advantage. The weather couldn't have been better for August and the run went super smooth. It gave me the confidence I needed to continue with this training.

On top of the running, I also taught three spin classes this week and took some new fitness classes as well. One was aqua spin (yup, spin bikes in a pool!) and the other was a TRX/All Body conditioning class. (Those conditioning classes that I take sporatically always remind me that I have little to no upper body strength. Ugh. For someone who can throw a dodgeball super hard and a baseball pretty far, its always a little sucky to not be able to do real push-ups and then be sore for days after. )

After running only like twice a week and eating (and drinking) like a monster while abroad, its time to get a little more serious about working out and eating healthy again. It can be a slippery slope once the bad habits start and I am trying to curb them a bit. Since its summer I am trying to not be so hard on myself. The working out part comes pretty easily to me because I enjoy it most of the time, especially trying new things. It's the whole food thing I have a hard time controlling. One day I'll get a good balance. Hopefully. I just love food. A lot.

Overall, this week back has been pretty good. I accomplished pretty much all of things I had to do (including booking a trip for Labor Day weekend. YOLO, right?)  and also had plenty of time to just lay around in my undies and relax. Unfortch, I think I was only able to stay awake past 7:30 pm three times this week as my body is still getting used to a sleep pattern, but I am trying to stay awake a little longer to create a more consistent and normal sleep pattern. I know as soon as I do, I will be heading off to Chicago and that one hour time difference that always seem to get to me, but it will be fine.

I still cannot believe I was gone just a week ago. It seems so far away and I don't want to forget it so soon. My Euro trip was something I was looking forward to for so long and although I am not in a full on post-trip funk, I still haven't accepted its over and done with. Thank goodness I am going to Chicago next week which is giving me something else to look forward too! And the Hamptons for Labor Day. And starting a new job after Labor Day. And my family is coming Rosh Hashonah. Hey...things could be a lot worse! I know I'm super lucky for what I've experienced already and for what lies ahead. This may just be MY year! Until then, there are a few weeks of summer left to really live it up, and I plan to do just that.