Tag Archives: Game of Thrones

Downton. Up Five

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Five miles up on my goal of 100 miles in April, that is.  This morning, after getting caught up on the new episode of Glee (thank God the show is back, but a little disappointed at the lackluster bridge from Quinn’s car accident to her showing up without a scratch, yet in a wheelchair.  I was hoping for a few episodes of hospital-style drama) I set forth to run five miles on the treadmill.  This would be one of my “fun runs.”

A.M. Run:

I was pleased with my splits, although I suppose I should be paying more attention to my pace DURING the run.  I was hoping for an avg of 8’00″ – 8’10″ pace since this was supposed to be an easier run.  Granted my times were a slower today than yesterday, I just want to avoid unnecessary injuries.

In other Wednesday news, we’re still alive and kickin’ here on St. Paul Island, even though our phones are not.  They have been down for the past week or so.

The phone company said, very boldly, that they would not come out to the island to fix the problem until there was enough demand for it.

If only we all had the work ethic of Mr. Carson.  This is just one of the few things that Dear Hubby and I will not miss once we leave the island.

In other news, last night the first disc of the second season of Downtow Abbey showed up at our door.  I had heard from a few people that they enjoyed the show, and my interested was really peaked after this lady blogged about her obsession of all things Downton and Reeces.

Here is a brief synopsis of the show from the Masterpiece/PBS website:

It’s 1912, and life in the Edwardian country house of Downton Abbey is idyllic and bustling for the Crawley family, aided by their cadre of servants. Robert, Earl of Grantham, his American heiress wife Cora, and their three daughters, along with Robert’s mother Violet, have lived largely uncomplicated lives. But the sinking of the Titanic hits home in an unexpected and dramatic way — Lord Grantham’s heir, James Crawley, and his son Patrick have perished. It’s personally agonizing (momentarily) for daughter Mary who was supposed to marry Patrick. On a grander scale, suddenly all the predictable succession plans have gone terribly awry, and unheard of questions now loom large — Who will be the new heir to the earldom? And what will happen to this distinguished estate, now in jeopardy?

In the other end of the grand home, the servants all have their own sets of conflicting personalities and personal interests to attend to.  Many are totally devoted, such as Mr. Carson, Mrs. Hughes, and Anna.  Yet there are others who have a more Iago-ian style of servitude: one who looks dutiful and devoted, but who’s really looking out for himself.  By pretending to serve their lords, these men get rich, and when they’ve saved up enough they can be their own masters.

I have become much more a fan of period-piece films and television shows since meeting Dear Hubby.  As of late, our DVR schedule consists of :

  • Game of Thrones
  • The Borgias
  • Boardwalk Empire
  • Lord of the Rings I, II, and III (blasphemy, I know)

And now Downton Abbey, which I always type “Downtown” first and then backspace my ass off.  I am actually enjoying the new additions to my leisure time.  And you know it’s legit because we’ve been married for almost two years and are WAY beyond the point where I have to pretend to have common interests with Dear Hubby, hence the name “Hubby.”

Quite right, Countess.  Quite right.

Are you watching Downton?

Any period-piece movies/tv shows you’re into?

April Goals

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Welcome back into my life, April!  This month is one of those that stand out just on principle.  There’s no grand reason why I love April so much other than it signifies that Spring is really in the air,  and Summer Vacation is right around the corner.  Oh yea, and that cute rhyme, “April Showers Bring May Flowers.” Anytime the name of a month kicks off a seasonal change reminder, you know you’ve got something swell.

Before officially jumping into a new month, a few thoughts about March.

I am disappointed that my longest run of March was 6 miles, compared to February’s 9 and January’s 13.1.  I put full blame on the flu for decimating my energy and will to live.

Now that I’ve put in two solid weeks of rebounding effort into climbing out of the March abyss, I am ready for April.

And because April is one of my favorite months, a special set of goals shall be cast in stone set.

Running: I am still in the beginning weeks of training for my half marathon on June 3rd, but it’s time that I kicked things up a notch.  Yesterday, I attempted to run some hill drills on the treadmill that didn’t get me very far.  I think I over estimated my conditioning, but that only means that I need to train more!

GOALS:

  • Run a total of 100 miles in April
  • One long run, one tempo, one hill, and two “fun” runs (fun = easy to medium pace(TWSS)) a week

Strength Training: I started, and will continue my 14-Day Abs Challenge.  I am on Day 5, and once the 14 days are up, I shall continue, but switch up the exercises.  I also need to add an additional set to each of my workouts.  I made the uneducated decision that it would be better to do a single set of exercises with the same weight I was using prior to getting sick instead of multiple sets with smaller weights.  I don’t know if that was right, but I now feel that I’m back to my old self.

GOALS:

  • 14-Day Abs Challenge throughout the month
  • Add an additional set of reps
  • Add in additional lower body routines

Reading: Since I have started running again, I decided to go cold turkey on reading while on the treadmill.  This has greatly reduced the amount of reading I’ve gotten done this past month.  Coinciding with my lack of reading was the introduction of the HBO series, “Game of Thrones.”  Dear Hubby has completely devoured each of the five, series based, 700+ page novels after watching the first season.  After giving the show a second chance, I really do want to read the novels now!  The genre is out of my usual scope, the dystopian/romance/YA realm, but one cannot argue with extraordinary literature.

Or the intoxicating Peter Dinklage.

Game of Thrones returns tonight for its second season.  I need to go get started on my first day of April goals so that I have plenty of time to sloth around on the couch for five hours mentally prepare for the premiere.

What are your goals for April?

Do you watch Game of Thrones? Are you as excited as I am to see where season two takes us?