Wii and Mii

Wii Fit is obnoxious. If you've ever played it before, you know what I mean. I kindof feeling like I'm working out with Jillian Michaels when I get weighed and haven't lost my weight. Wii is all like, "You didn't reach your goal, did you mollie? Maybe you should aim for something more realistic."

Ryan and I use Wii Fit in spurts. Sometimes we'll use it constantly and then sometimes it will remind us that it has been 144 days since it has seen us. So when we finally dusted it off again and used it last week, it was no surprise when it informed both of us that we'd gained some weight. With all of my marathon training, it wasn't really as much as I'd expected. Only 1.5 lbs. I could live with that.

We made a deal that we would set our weight loss goals for X amount in 1 month. If we hadn't reached our goal, there would be consequences...any suggestions for what that should be? I think right now we're saying that we can't use our iPhones for a day, which is a pretty big deal considering the new addiction to Angry Birds.

To help keep me on track, I'm going to blog my weight loss, or um, weight gain if it happens.

Transitions

The Rock n Roll Seattle marathon is less than 3 weeks away. That is so crazy! It got here way too fast. I still need a plane ticket, which are a bit expensive right now, and I'm hoping that the prices will go down soon. Seriously Delta, I'm not flying to Europe, I'm just going across the country!

If I survive this marathon and don't suffer any physical or psychological issues, then hopefully running marathons will be my new pastime. In that case, I will continue to update this blog regularly. But in the even that it doesn't, or if I just run out of running related reportee, I'm migrating over to a brand new blog: Love the Green Life (www.lovethegreenlife.blogspot.com)
There you will find my quest in the kitchen to simplify all of the complicated vegetarian/vegan recipes that are out there and modify them for us normal people. I'll also review products that I come across, and all around talk about living green. Hopefully you will continue to read my posts, and as always, let me know what you think!

Holy Hiatus

The 2 week wedding/honeymoon hiatus is over and it's back to the real world of running. I can't believe the Seattle marathon is LESS than a month away. Needless to say, I'm a little freaked out! Not only freaked out, but burned out too. This is not the time to lose my motivation, but I am tired of running! I'm tired of thinking about running, feeling guilty about not running, and being nervous about not being able to run enough!

So for the rest of this post, I'm not writing about running. I'm going to write about the wedding bubble that I've lived in for the past 2 weeks.

The wedding was beautiful, with only a few minor bumps along the way. I guess I mean bumps literally, considering that one of my bridesmaids came down with shingles a few days before the wedding and could not be in it. There was also a minor fire during the ceremony caused by a dripping candleabra that one of my quick thinking bridesmaids had to put out. All in all, it was a perfect day with perfect weather and surrounded by the best family and friends.

Due to lack of vacation time, Ryan and I went on a mini 'let's not call this a honeymoon' getaway to Boston. I had high expectations for this city that were mostly based on my obviously defective memory. I'm not saying that Boston isn't a nice city, it is. It's just not one that you should spend more than 2 days in. I remember (or so I think I do) as a teenager visiting the place where the Boston Tea Party occurred. I expertly navigated us around the city to this location (turns out I had the better sense of direction for the entire trip). I can honestly say I've never been more disappointed in a hyped up historical landmark than when I saw Boston's ode to the Tea Party. It was a sign. That was it. A sign that said 'This is where the Tea Party occurred'. It may have given a little history about it, but really, they make you study all of this stuff all through school and that's all they can give? A sign? Where's the boat? Or some sort of re-enactment? Nada. So disappointing. Oh, and Beantown, the Yankees do not suck.

The End of an Era

Well it's official! I'm now Mrs. Bringhurst as far as the state of New York is concerned. Since Ryan and I are New York residents, we had to complete the marriage license process here. Sixty dollars and a quickie ceremony later, we're Mr. and Mrs.

Now we have a 15 hour car drive home to Kentucky to get ready for the actual ceremony and reception. Can't wait to get home and celebrate!

Are we done yet?

Do you know how many muscles you have in your lower body? I do, because every single one of mine hurt, really really bad after my 16 mile run on Sunday. My feet hurt, my calves hurt, my thighs hurt, my hip hurt (just the left one. It's quirky like that) and oh yes, my back hurt. My lower body completely declared war after what I put it through.

What I put it through was a very cold, very windy run up and down the Hudson River. I chose to run there because it was a new area that was plenty big. I should've known when I left for the run that it was a bad idea. It was only 48 degrees out, and do you know that it drops like 30 degrees when you get by the water? And the wind. Oh the wind. It was awful. At one point I had to turn around and go back because I literally couldn't breathe from the wind hitting me in the face.

I guess the positive part of this story is that I did it. I finished. It took me running up and down and the same area over and over again to get the last 3 miles finished, but I did it.
I saw some pretty cool stuff too like this monument for Soldiers and Sailors. It set up a hill and I got to run up a bunch of steps and feel like Rocky at the top. Then I ran around it and back down. It's those types of perks that get you through the run.

Ode to Edy's

My allergies have officially taken control of my upper body. My nose itches, I can't stop sneezing and I want to claw my eyes out. It all started when I decided to have a nice relaxing lunch in the park for an hour and read my nook. During that time those allergies took control and have not let go, even with the help of my Eye Allergy Visine drops. Needless to say, this made my run in the park not as easy as intended.

For some reason I'm having difficulty getting motivated for these shorts runs. They just seem so...boring.

And can I just say that after all of this running, after over 100 miles in the past couple of months, I still don't feel like I'm any more toned or in shape? Sure I can run a decent distance, but based on visuals alone, it doesn't seem like much has changed. I know that my friend Edy's has something to do with it. And probably my lack of strength training. I just thought that burning 1,200 calories during a running session would leave me a bit more svelte. Also, what bride to be in her right mind eats bagels with loads of cream cheese a week before her wedding when she's due to slip into a very fitted wedding dress? That would be me. I try to bargain with myself that my body needs these carbs for all the running that I'm doing. I think that's the devil part of my brain talking. Honestly, I'd probably be happy if Ryan would throw out the Edy's Limited Edition Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie ice cream that's been residing in our freezer for the past couple of weeks. But then I'd probably be really sad, because that's some super good ice cream.

Camelbak or Hydration Belt?

Question for anyone that does distance running: Which is preferable for hydration? A Camelbak or belt? I personally don't think either look that great, but I'm going to have to stop relying on buying water from a vendor in the park each time I'm thirsty.

Thoughts?

14 miles and Counting...

Remember last week when I was writing about how awesome my long run was? Yeah well, this long run, this 14 mile long run, was not so much fun. For one thing, New York was experiencing a record high on Saturday. Even though I left early, it was already at 78 degrees by 9. Mile 1 was bad. Mile 2 was worse. By mile 3.5 I had to call Megan, hoping to be yelled at to stop whining and start running. However, I think 6:30 am was a little too early for her to start yelling, but I did get her blessing to walk some of it.

After about mile 5 I started to feel better. The miles started to get a little easier. In fact, without even realizing it, I ran all the way to the end of Central Park at 110th street. Then I kept running all the way across the park and then all the way back down. I managed to find my running trail too. It is such a crazy, chaotic trail. It looks like someone with severe ADD just started throwing out random trails all over the place. On the one hand it's great because it keeps you guessing where you're going. On the other hand, I end up having no idea where I'm at.

I felt so good once the run was over. I had successfully run farther than I've ever run in my entire life. My legs hurt, my feet hurt, my back hurt, but it was such a huge accomplishment for me. I can't wait to tackle the 16 miles this weekend.

Just a Friendly Reminder

I'm officially in the process of becoming a Bringhurst! I guess technically I've been in this process since last July when Ryan proposed, but yesterday we went to City Hall to apply for a marriage license. We will go back in 2 weeks to make it official, then off to Kentucky for the actually ceremony. I'm getting so excited.

I'm actually excited for my 14 mile run this weekend. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm starting to prefer these long runs over the short ones. They are more satisfying. I'm hoping that it will rain again this weekend so that it's cool and the ground is wet. It's more fun to run in!

Just as a reminder, I'm still working towards my $500 goal for Joints in Motion. I'm going to steal a line from the panhandlers that I listen to on the subway everyday and say that 'every penny, nickel, dime, or quarter will help', but I prefer bills! Actually, I will take anything that you're willing to donate and it really does go for a great cause. I'm also pretty sure it's tax deductible so you can stick it to Uncle Sam come next April.

http://PNWJointsInMotion.kintera.org/wannaberunner

Rainy run and super sore muscles

In preparation for my big run of 12 miles yesterday, I updated my workout playlist. A few songs that I could no longer tolerate got removed and replaced with some new ones. I added Empire State of Mind, and Mercy, which coincidentally is what I'm begging for now because of all of my extremely sore muscles.

It was raining yesterday and initially I was really dreading it. About a mile into it I thought there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to accomplish it. But then I decided to go off my normal loop and run all new paths in the park. It helped to distract me because I never knew what I was going to see next or where I would end up. With each declaration from my iPhone that another mile had been completed, I got a little more motivated, and little more confident.

Since it was a rainy day, there weren't hardly any food vendors out in the park. Usually there's one every few feet, but they were very scarce. I came upon one at mile 3, but wasn't thirsty yet, so I didn't stop. Once I reached mile 6 though, I was ready for my Poland Spring, but worried because there were no vendors in site. My run was now all about navigating my self back to the vendor I had seen earlier. Finally, after an extra mile of running, I found him. Water has never tasted so good.

This run was a great time for me to reflect on things because I was spending so much time with just myself. I ran past a group of high school students that looked like they were on a school trip. It made me think back to the first time I got to come to New York, my senior year of high school. Made me think about how I fell in love with the place, posing in front of limos pretending they were mine and buy NYPD sweatshirts. It really made me feel proud, because I had loved this place so much and it was my goal to get here and I did. I found a great job, a great apartment, and I have a great soon to be husband, so life worked out pretty well for me so far. That reminder to myself, that I'm a strong person that accomplishes what I set out for, may just give me the extra confidence I need to finish my training strong and finish this marathon.

I'm proud of myself and I don't feel intimidated as much by the goal I have in front of me.

America's Got Talent

I won't be so melodramatic to say that the NFL Draft ruins my life, but wow is it boring.

The night started on the right path. Ryan and I left work early (!) and hustled home. We had tickets to go see a taping of America's Got Talent and had to be there by 6:00. I was able to convince Ryan to take the dogs out so that I could scarf down a delicious sandwich. Ryan was his hokey pokey self and took forever to get ready (and I thought I had ADD...). Anyways, so we're dressed in our TV appropriate attire and rush out the door, hop into a cab, and are on our way. Except in New York, traffic doesn't always move at the speed you want it to. After 15 minutes we had gone 6 blocks and wasted 10 bucks, still 16 blocks from where we needed to be. We decided to walk it. My TV appropriate attire included 4.5 inch stilettos that were NOT made for walking 16 blocks at a swift pace. By the time we made it to our destination, the bottoms of my feet were raw and felt on fire. They hurt so bad that I had to continually shift my weight back and forth from each, resulting in what looked like a pee-pee dance.

We took our place in a line that wrapped down 34th street, up 9th avenue, and back across 35th street. There we stood for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, then finally an hour. After that much time and only being halfway there, I called mercy and we took a cab back home. $20, an hour, and super sore feet later we returned back home where the NFL Draft was promptly turned on, except this time it was Ryan that was confined to the bedroom forced to watch it streaming online. Then somewhere along the way I ran out of DVR shows and ran into plenty of boredom. I have to be constantly entertained or I fall asleep, which is what happened. When I woke up, NFL Draft was back on the big screen. We will be at Radio City itself bright and early tomorrow morning to watch the third round of the draft. My money says that I'll last 2 hours before calling it a day. (I have just been informed that we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow and that I should go asleep. I don't know why. I don't have to be that coherent to read my Nook during the draft. I learned this move from my mother who is notorious for taking books with her to all of the baseball games she goes to with my dad.)

I hope that my feet heal by tomorrow for my big run. I'm not sure that Sharon Osbourne and all of America's talent was worth all of that.

PS- I did get a run in last night at 10:00 when I took my dogs out. Between the 2 of them, we did 4.57 miles!

A Little Lesson About City Life

For those of you that have never lived in an apartment building, I envy you. You probably run around your house, loving all of your extra space, maybe even doing cartwheels in your living room just because you can. I on the other hand, live in a shoe box. Yes, I chose to live in this rather expensive shoe box, and now I get all of the joys that go with it. Case in point: I am currently confined to the bedroom because tonight is the NFL Draft, as well as tomorrow and apparently Saturday. I've been forced to watch the finale of 16 and Pregnant on my laptop because our DVR is commandeered by Ryan for the evening.

I believe that New York apartments were built with absolutely no insulation to drown out the noise of your neighbors. In Brooklyn we had neighbors that I lovingly deemed the 'wife beater' because nearly every night you felt like you were in their living room, as the man screamed and screamed. If physical violence ever took place, I'm not completely sure, but I was closer to it than I cared to be. Oh ghetto of Brooklyn, how I miss you!

Then there's our apartment in the city. Most of the people in the building are fairly quiet, minus the birds that chirp loudly by the stairs and the person that plays the piano (how do you even get a piano into an old apartment building like this?). I'm too scared to even do exercises on my Wii for fear of sounding like I'm coming through the ceiling, let alone practice a musical instrument.

Anyways, I'm laying here in the bedroom, trying to watch my favorite teen shows, and all I can hear is our neighbor. And I'm not saying I just hear him yell. I can hear him sneeze. I'm pretty sure I could even hear him yawn. Most of the time he's not too bad and keeps to him self, but every now and then he has a um, lady friend, that stays for DAYS. I haven't completely decided where she comes from and what her relationship is with said neighbor because I was pretty convinced he wasn't really interested in girls. I don't have the best gaydar ever, but he's sending off some strong vibes. Back to the woman; she is the LOUDEST talker ever, which is even louder through paper thin walls. And when she's in town, they always fight. Like one time when she screamed at him that she 'boils her blood for him'. Ryan and I are still trying to figure that one out.

I think the lesson here for everyone is that if you live in an apartment building, more than likely your neighbor can hear you. And you never know, that neighbor could be blogging about you....

Rise and Run!

Yesterday was a beautiful rainy evening in New York. I didn't care though. Somebody (me) had gotten up early yesterday morning and finished their 4 mile run BEFORE work. Yep, one small victory for me. It felt so good too. I kept thinking all day, 'I've already done my run'. I didn't have to worry about fitting it in last night.

There was unfortunately no repeat of that this morning. I guess I'll be out this evening doing my 6 miles. I would really love it if I could get into the groove of getting up early. I've even read about some people that sleep in their running clothes so that they can just get up and go. I'm not sure that I'm quite there yet, but it does sound tempting. Anything to make getting out of bed a little easier.

People seem to believe in my ability to finish this race, which is super motivating to me. I got another awesome donation, so I'm up to $140. I really appreciate all of it and hope that I can make my goal of $500. Joints in Motion is such a great cause!

http://PNWJointsInMotion.kintera.org/wannaberunner

I have work to do now (I guess that's what they're paying me for here). Have a great day!

Big Week!

Last week was crazy. I was at home in Louisville wrapping up the never ending wedding details, while also enjoying my 2 bridal showers and bachelorette party. It was a great week, but I felt perpetually exhausted, mostly due to my ever existent insomnia. Oh insomnia, how I hate you. You make it so difficult to get through the days, and force me to lay there in boredom at night as the minutes tick by...

Because of all of that, I only got about 10 of my 24 miles in last week. Not so great. But as the ever optimistic person that I am, this will be a better week. Yesterday I was still in recuperation mode, so no running for me. But after 2 sound nights of sleep, I feel more confident that I will complete my 4 mile run tonight.

I got another awesome donation for Joints in Motion! That puts me up to $90- only $410 more to reach my goal. If you'd like to help this great cause and give me more motivation to get running, click on the link below.

http://PNWJointsInMotion.kintera.org/wannaberunner

Joints in Motion

One of my goals for running this marathon (in addition to actually making it across the finish line alive) was to also raise money for a charity. I wanted to find one that meant something to me, so when I came across Joints in Motion, I felt like it was a good fit.

Joints in Motion (JIM) is part of the Arthritis Foundation. It is the athletic program that raises money for awareness to fight arthritis. I chose JIM because of my grandfather, Bop (the loving nickname that my brother gave him). I always knew Bop as someone that was so loving and caring with a great sense of humor. He was the kind of person that would do anything for you. In his later years, he developed really bad arthritis, especially in his hands, that was very painful and uncomfortable for him. I remember that even through all of that, he was still sitting there with a big smile on his face. He never seemed to let anything get him down.

A few years ago, I was told that I had rheumatoid arthritis in my knee. Luckily right now it's not too bad, although every now and then it will get a little painful.

I want to run this race for Bop and help to raise money for Joints in Motion in honor of him. My goal is $500.00
I got my first donation last night from my loving finace, who I wish could have known Bop.

If you're interested in helping, everything is greatly appreciated. Please click on the link below. I will also probably start posting this link in most of my blog posts to keep the momentum going.

Donation site: http://PNWJointsInMotion.kintera.org/wannaberunner

If you'd like to check out more about Joints in Motion, see the link below:
http://www.arthritis.org/chapters/pacific-northwest/joints-in-motion.php

Today's Run: Part One

Today, I found out how mailmen felt. I'm in Kentucky this week staying at my parent's house. I went out for my run today thinking how nice it would be to run in a neighborhood and not fight any people or traffic. What I didn't think about was a few of the other obstacles that I might endure:

1- It's hot. Not New York hot, but Kentucky hot, which is a whole other beast of its own. The air is humid and I immediately found it next to impossible to breathe. Also, when checking the weather, I saw that it was a pleasant 73 degrees so I felt that it was still a nice temperature to run in. Not so much. That leads me to point #2.

2- Neighborhoods (at least my parent's) have no sidewalks, only super hot, sun reflective black top. This makes the pleasant 73 degrees now a blazing 100 (that's what if felt like as I was running).

3- Cities have lots of dogs. Dogs are everywhere. However, dogs in cities are on leashes. Dogs in neighborhoods are not. There were 2 Cujo's locked up behind a gate that were not pleased with me being in their territory, followed by another dog that trying to decide if I was a threat or not. Luckily, he decided that I wasn't and ran back to his house.

Needless to say, this run attempt was a no-go. Now I know to only venture out either early in the morning or in the evening. I will try again this evening.

Busy Week

It has been such a busy week that I haven't taken the time to post that I should have. I had a wedding to go to and then my bridal shower (which was so fun!). I've also been running wedding errands, so it's been busy busy.

I'm going to be completely honest right now and say that I didn't get my 10 mile run in this weekend (don't yell, Megan). I feel really bad about it, but with all of the stuff going on, there was just no time to do it.

I flew into Louisville on Friday night. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm highly claustrophobic, especially on airplanes. As I'm boarding the plane, I realize my good fortune that I'm in the single 'A' aisle which is great because then I don't have to share. Also, my 'carry on' is fully beyond the plane regulated size and I'm hoping to discreetly shove it under the seat without any pushback from the flight attendants.
As I'm making my way back, I notice that I don't seem to be getting any closer to my seat the farther that I go. Then I see it, seat 18 A, right by the bathroom. And yes, it was as awful as you would think it would be. On the itty bitty plane in the itty bitty seat sitting smack dab next to the super disgusting bathroom. I swear I've never seen so many people have to use the bathroom before the flight. I had to place a scarf over my face and wait for my drugs to kick in. Which they did big time....and they continued to work for quite a while after the plane landed... There was no way I was getting up early after all of that.

Tomorrow is a new day though, and I fully intend to get up bright and early, or at least somewhat early and do a slightly longer regular week run. I'm thinking somewhere in the 5-6 mile range. Since I'm staying with my parents this week, I get to take advantage of running in their neighborhood, which has plenty of hills. I think it will fully help to prepare me for the Seattle hills.

If you don't see miles posted up here by tomorrow afternoon, I fully invite you to yell at me.

Cured

Yesterday was a really busy day so I didn’t get around to posting. Ryan and I had a great brunch, did a little shopping, and took the dogs to the dog park. I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter/Sunday.

Yesterday was also a great day because I was FINALLY feeling better for the first time in a week. I had my 8 mile run to finish yesterday and there couldn’t have been a more perfect day weather-wise to do it. I ran to the park, as usual, and made it back up again to the beautiful reservoir, except this time I made it all the way around. At about 3 miles into it I was feeling a little tired. I don’t think I had eaten enough before setting out and was feeling fatigued. Luckily I had packed some Block Shots (or whatever they’re called) so I ate a few of those. 4 miles into it I was feeling better. Halfway there! For these longer runs, I think I’m going to have to invest in one of those water bottle belt things. I think they look kindof funny on, but I would’ve killed for some water through my run. I know it’s going to be very important to stay hydrated for my upcoming long runs.

Anyways, happy Monday. This post was a bit boring. Hopefully I’ll have something more interesting soon!

Oh- did anyone watch the first baseball game of the season? Poor Yankees. I’m so excited though because I have tickets to see the Yankees play the Red Sox again next month!

Week 4

This has been a pesky little cold, refusing to go down without a fight, which pretty much sabotaged my week 4 of training. Even though I work for a hospital, I really don't like going to the doctor. However, after a week of sniffles, sneezing, and coughing, I may give in and go today.

The weather was so nice yesterday that I went on my first run in 8 days. I didn't want to push myself too much, so I just did a little over 3 miles with a decent pace of 9.05.

I'm going to take a break today, and then do my long run of 8 miles tomorrow. I'm hoping to do it in the park, but with it being Easter, I'm afraid it'll be super crowded.

Happy Easter tomorrow!

Running Meditation

I've been out of commission for a few days because I got a cold. I could feel it coming on Friday night when my throat started to hurt. By the time I woke up on Saturday, it was full blown sickness. Not fun. Because of that I missed my long run of 7 miles this past weekend. I'm disappointed that I didn't get to do it, but I'm going to continue on with week 4 of my training.

I didn't go to work yesterday or today because I didn't want to spread my cold. Unfortunately I work in close quarters with 4 other people, so it seems like our colds are always being passed around. Being at home so much was fun at first, but now I'm starting to go stir crazy, and to top it off, it's been raining straight for the past 2 days.

Colds are a tricky illness because for the most part, they're all in your head. The congestion, itchy eyes, sore throat; it's all upstairs, leaving my body feeling mostly ok. I've been wandering around the apartment in search for something to do. I've finished a couple of magazines (one from June 2009!) and tried doing some weight training with my kettle bell, all to still end up restless. My inability to be still is even more apparent on days like today. I went over to my bookshelf to find a book to read, even though I'm currently reading like 6 at a time. What's interesting is that almost all of my books have little bookmarks in them at random places throughout, mostly at the beginning, because I very rarely ever finish a book that I've started in one sitting. I'll read it, put it back, and pick it back up again a few months later.

I think this inability to do one thing at a time is why running has been so challenging for me. When I'm out by myself, I have no choice but to continue the run. Even if I were to choose to stop running, I'd still have to get myself home...by running. Running forces me to focus on how I'm feeling during the run, focus on my thoughts, focus on my goals. Maybe I can turn this constant mind racing into some sort of running meditation.
It's a really nice change for me, and I hope that with my continued training, I can apply this approach to meditation during my other day to day activities.

Now if only the rain would ease up a bit so I could get out of this apartment!

Food Revolution

Tonight's post is dedicated to the new show, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I just finished the first episode and am getting ready to start the second one. I love it. Jamie is visiting different towns in the US and looking at the foods that our families are eating and what is being served to kids at school. What you eat that you think is chicken is probably not really chicken, or as the show points out, may not even really be mashed potatoes. Take a look at some of the ingredients in the food that you eat. The general rule of thumb is that if you can't pronounce it, you probably shouldn't consume it.

I've been fixated on nutrition and whole eating since I gave up meat almost 3 years ago. Ever since then I've read countless books on the effects of the standard American diet on our bodies. It's amazing to learn about what is in some of the foods that our FDA has approved and recommends. If you feel sick constantly or have chronic pain, take a look at your diet. Mine has improved quite a bit over the past few years, since cutting out all meat products and milk and replacing with whole fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts.

I'll get off my soap box now, but I suggest you check out the show. It comes on Fridays on ABC at 8. Here's a link to the website. Check it out.
http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

I love hockey

I didn't do my 4 mile run yesterday because (there's always a good reason, right?) Ryan and I decided to get tickets to the NY Rangers hockey game. I just discovered hockey this year and I love it. I live in an overly sports saturated household. They are always on and I almost always never care to watch. But hockey...hockey is a whole other story.

Reason why I love hockey:
- It's super fast paced, which meshes well with my undiagnosed ADD. I'm unable to sit still and not do anything else. Even right now I'm watching a DVR'd episode of Survivor and typing this.

-There aren't many rules, and the rules they do have are pretty self explanatory. It's not like football where it takes like 8 hours to run a few feet. It's not constantly stop and go.

-The players are generally pretty hot. Have you seen Erik Christensen? Or Sean Avery?

- They fight. How crazy is that? At my first hockey game I was shocked that this was not only allowed, but encouraged. Crazy!

Since I didn't run last night, I did it tonight. Not too bad. I'm getting more comfortable with it. I'm going to have to try to fit in my 3 mile run tomorrow.

One last note- GO CATS!!!

A Little Running Advice

Remember when your mom warned you not to swim until 30 minutes after you ate? Well that should apply to running too.
I thought an hour would be sufficient time to wait after enjoying leftover homemade vegetable enchiladas before running. I was grossly mistaken.
It all started well and good. I set my Nike app to a 5K and headed towards the park. About 2K into it (how far is that anyways?), the feeling hit. I won't go into detail about what the feeling was, but it wasn't a good one. I found myself on the far side of the park praying for a pedicab to pull up next to me and peddle me home. You know I had to feel bad to actually want a pedicab.
I had no choice but to start walking, so I did for about .5K. I started feeling a little better so I gave running a try again. Then pain. Then a little bit of running. Then lots of pain. I ended up walking almost the entire remaining 2 miles.
Lesson learned. Eat light or just don't do it.

Powersong

This weekend was my 6 mile run. I'm still in week 2 of my training so that it finishes exactly in time with race day. I finally took the time to sync all of my music from my old iPhone to my new one. Not having to run to Lifehouse's depressing ballads anymore is a plus. I made what I think is a pretty kick-butt workout mix. I think I've always been pretty good at making awesome mixes like road trip mixes and spring break mixes. I think I even gave Ryan a mixed CD when we first started dating, which I'm pretty sure he loves. Here are some of the songs that I added:

-Womanizer- Britney Spears (actually any Britney will do)
-Just Dance- Lady Gaga (most Gaga will do too)
-Shake It- Metrostation
-Tik Tok- Kesha

The Nike app lets you choose a Powersong. This is a song that you push to play whenever you feel like death is imminent and nothing will get you going other than that one song. So what did I pick? The Glee anthem, Single Ladies by Beyonce. It's just so catchy. And every time that I hear it I think about that hilarious episode of Glee and the football players. So good.

Anyways, the Nike app also has this great feature where you can set a custom distance for your run, and then it will tell you at every mile interval how far you've gone and how much further you've got to go. Sure beats pulling the iPhone out every 5 minutes to check my distance!

Since my run was a little longer this weekend, I decided to try a new route. I ended up by the Reservoir in Central Park. It's so beautiful there, and about 5 degrees cooler since you're right on the water. The loop around has got to be like 8 miles or something and I wasn't about to attempt that this weekend, so I went for about 2 miles and then looped back out.

On a final note, I set my personal best pace at an 8:12 minute average mile. While out in the park, I was even passing people. I should mention that these people were walking, but that's not the point. The point is that I wasn't walking, so basically I rock.

Got any song suggestions to add to my playlist? Mine are getting a little tired, but since I don't listen to the radio, I don't ever hear new music.

Weakling

This is an early morning post. These will not happen often. I happen to be up this early and coherent already because I have a work thing in which I'm forced to go to earlier than my usual time. This makes me want to send a hate note to Daylight Savings Time. I had been doing better lately because the sun was actually up when my alarm ripped me from sleep. No such luck this morning. Do you know how much more difficult that made it for me to get up? Yeah, not a pretty picture. My mind has been taxed with all of the mental motivation I've been putting it through: C'mon mind, let's finish these miles, it'll be fun. Or, don't eat that extra bite of delicious chocolate, let's eat a carrot. See how exhausting that can be? Not much left to motivate me to get out of bed.

Yesterday I had 4 miles to run, in which I ran 3.75. I slacked off on the remaining 1/4 mile because I could feel something not so right in my ankle. Ugh. It's feeling better today. I'm going to look into some strength training exercises for it.

Basically what I think my lower body is continuing to tell me is that it's super weak. I guess I need to work on that.

I have 3 miles to run tonight and then woohoo, one day off until my long run Saturday!

Welcome Back Spring

Welcome back Spring. You have been very much missed. There were times when I thought I may never see you again. Hopefully the lion of March is gone and the lamb is here to stay.

It was very nice to have a warm, sunny day today following the hurricane-like weather over the weekend. I took advantage of it and went for a my 3 mile run in the park. It was a really clear night, so I snapped this picture of the city. If only my iPhone had zoom!

In order to add a little boost to my training, I created a training schedule and printed it out. I will plaster it to my cubicle wall, refrigerator, bathroom mirror, and anywhere else necessary as a constant reminder that laziness is not okay. Since I'm running 4 days a week, I've added in variations of strength training for the remaining 3 days: arms, legs, and abs. I've rotated these around so that it doesn't become monotonous. This way not only will I be running the marathon, but I will hopefully have some very fine arms, legs, and abs.

Back to my run in the park- I remembered to slow down my pace and managed to run the whole thing without stopping. Part of it might have been out of fear that Megan was going to run up behind me and start yelling. :) With my slow pace, I did get passed quite a bit tonight, but you know what? I'm not trying to be Meb. I'm just trying to finish the race without dying. (For those of you that don't know...Meb won the 2009 NY Marathon).

Happy running!

Worst. Run. Ever.

Today it rained. Actually, today the heavens opened up and released the motherload of all torrential downpours on the city. This wouldn't necessarily have mattered so much except that my friend Megan is in town. We had made plans to go for a run in Central Park, and apparently where she's from, rain doesn't seem to be a big deal to run in. I, on the other hand, did not agree. I don't have running clothes for rain. I have cotton, which for those of you that don't know, tends to absorb water. Oh, and it was cold, so I wore a tobogan, but not a really great running tobogan. No, it was a super water absorbant one.

Once dressed, we set out for the park. About 3 blocks into it I wanted to die/cry. That is when the yelling first began. I was instructed to run through the pain/tears/rain/wind and that it would get better once we got to the park. She was partially right. The wind wasn't quite so bad, but I still wasn't too pumped about the whole situation. I did learn something though. I guess when I've been training, I try to run at too fast a pace and then get tired and have to walk. Walking was not an option this time...at all, even after I pointed out that the Seattle marathon is a walk/run marathon. This is where the yelling continued. I was given a very motivating speech and I'd like to say that it kicked my butt into gear, but I'd be lying. While on the surface, everything that Megan was saying made sense, like, 'work through the pain',' you're mind is thinking too much', 'you're coming up with too many excuses', etc etc. However, I'm used to just running with me, myself, and I, and the 3 of us usually think that we can't do it, so it's kindof difficult to just change that mindset.

In the end, I was really glad that we did it. I was soaked and tired, but very proud of myself. Now I know where I stand with my training and I need to get my butt into gear if I want to survive across the finish line. I even went and bought some better running gear in case I find myself in a rain storm again.



(I did cut a deal with Megan that if I finished, I got to put her picture up, so in a way, I win!)
If you're reading this Megs, I love ya, and hopefully you won't get a chance to yell at me in June!

Road ID

I think companies should pay me money to endorse their products. I'd be the best endorser ever, like a race car driver with Tide plastered all over my car. Until then, I guess I'll just do it for free.

Here's a runner's product that I love and helps to keep me nice and safe on my runs. It's called a Road ID (www.roadID.com). It's a great bracelet thing that you engrave with your name, phone number, emergency contact and an optional motivation phrase. Mine says La Bella Vita = a beautiful life. I sometimes look down at the phrase during my runs to remind myself why I'm torturing myself. I suggest you come up with something really motivational like, You can do it! or Never give up! or something similarly as encouraging. It might even help to wear it all the time so that on days when you can't remove yourself from the couch you'll feel guilty every time you look at your wrist. See, great endorsement.

So rest assured mom, if anything were to happen to me, the cops would know who to call (just kidding).

Peas and Cupcakes

Look at this great ice pack that I found at CVS! It's called Peas and has little gel things inside of that are supposed to mimic a bag of peas. Great idea! It even has a velcro band on it so you can put it on your knee. I think I love it.

Now on to another topic. I don't know if I've mentioned before, but I'm a vegetarian and part-time vegan (I don't drink milk and try not to eat regular cheese often). Anyways, I have a dream of someday breaking away from corporate America and owning my own vegan cupcake bakery. I've been testing out some of my own new recipes, but I need new ideas for flavors. It can be anything, even something like peanut butter and jelly. I'm just looking for suggestions of new types that I could try.

Anyways, if you have any ideas, add them. I'd appreciate it! Who knows, maybe someday I'll be the next Martha Stewart...minus the jail time.

Have a great night and happy running.

My Poor Knee

I'm sitting here with my foot propped up and a frozen bag of green beans on my knee as I write this. Apparently somewhere along the way yesterday during my run, I hurt my IT band. Coincidentally, Chapter 3 of my training book, The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer talks about the most common injuries. According to the book, this type of injury could be due to leg length discrepancies. The only leg discrepancy that I have is that my legs are super short!

I seem to hurt my knee a lot when I run...and my back. I'm pretty sure it's my body protesting. It would much rather be playing the obstacle course on Wii Fit Plus instead of out running. But that's crazy, because it's finally gorgeous out here! 60 degrees! I can't believe 2 weeks ago we had a record snowfall and now it's practically spring.

Tonight I will keep the beans on my knee but maybe sneak in a little bit of strength training for the upper body. I wore short sleeves today to work and my oh my did my arms look wimpy. Time for a few push ups!

I'm praying for another nice day/night tomorrow because this is perfect running weather!

Claustrophobic Clothes

It is such a gorgeous day here today. Finally! A perfect day to do my long run (6 miles) in the park.

I've been using my iPhone with the Nike + app lately instead of my iPod (it's SO much better), but I don't have an armband for it yet, so I have to wear tops with zipper pockets. When I went to get dressed for my run, I realized that all of my running fleeces were dirty. I dug through a pile of non-athletic jackets and found a black zip up fleece with pockets. I felt really frumpy in it, but Ryan assured me that I didn't look stupid, so I took his word for it.
I think there's a reason that some types of fleece are deemed 'athletic'. This one was not. After only a few minutes in it, I was already getting hot.

I got to the park, fleece and all, and started my run on the loop that is about 2 miles around the bottom portion of the park. There sure were a lot of interesting people out today. Nice weather does that. I actually got passed by what appeared to be an at least 80 year old man.
I really have my work cut out for me.

As a person who has lived in this crazy city for 2 years, nothing really surprises me. Until today. I saw 2 men, overweight, without their shirts on, running barefoot on the loop. How does that not hurt? And who sets out for a nice jog and thinks, today I will wear no shirt and no shoes? Gotta love this city.

Back to the fleece...I'm now a couple of miles into my run when I can't bear the heat anymore from the fleece and decide to take it off. I try to unzip it, but it's stuck. So I try to get it unstuck by zipping it up and then down. No go. Now it's just zipped up almost all the way, like a stupid turtleneck! I can't get the stupid thing off! I think I've mentioned in the past that I get claustrophobic easily. This applies to clothes too. I rarely ever wear jackets/coats that zip. I prefer buttons. Buttons don't get stuck. So here I am, running in the middle of all of these people, hot as hades in my non athletic fleece, feeling a panic attack coming on because I'm stuck. Ok, don't panic, I think. It's no big deal. It's just a fleece and it's not hurting you. You aren't going to die from being stuck in it. I'll just finish the loop and head home.

So I did, and as soon as I got into the apartment, I proceeded to try to pull the stupid fleece over my head. Nope. My head was too big for the opening. Panic was setting in.
I start yelling for Ryan to come help and bring a pair of scissors, begging him to cut me out of it. Luckily for me, Ryan is a more rational thinker and manages to get the zipper and me unstuck from the fleece.

After all of that unpleasant chaos, I only got 4 miles in. I will do my remaining 2 later...without that fleece on!

Rave and Rant

I ran an extra 10 blocks today. Well, 11 if you count the one that I had to run back to the apartment. Never ask Ryan what the weather is like. He lies. He said it felt good, aka semi-warm for the winter, so I headed out with bare ears. Big mistake. It took me a half block out to realize that if I kept going I was risking an ear infection, so I ran back and grabbed my toboggan. For all of you Indiana people, a toboggan is a hat, not a sled :).

I have a rave and a rant for the night. My rave is that I feel like running at night in the city allows me to explore parts of it that I might not normally go. I ran a total of 62 blocks tonight uptown. I discovered lots of stores and restaurants that are outside of our 'neighborhood', but still close enough that we could/should walk to. Like another location of our favorite bagels, H&H. And another Barnes and Noble. I would live in Barnes and Noble if they'd let me and I always love finding new locations to browse through.

My rant has to do with people on bikes. More specifically, delivery men on bikes. Now I've definitely had my share of food delivered to me because I was too lazy to go out, so I appreciate what they do. However, I am finding it increasingly hard to not push them over when they ride on the sidewalk (which they aren't supposed to do) or almost run over me when I have a walk sign. During tonight's run, I think I almost go hit 5 different times. I don't know how it is in other big cities, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves here. Well, them and the annoying rickshaw guys. Try running in the park without being hit by one of them!

Ok, that's all for tonight. All in all, a good 4 mile run. Tomorrow's my running day off and then a long run on Saturday. It's going to be a busy weekend! Lots of wedding stuff to get done. Yay!

One Hit Wonder

I checked my Nike app on my phone and saw that the last time that I ran was on February 13th. I guess that explains why I felt so out of shape tonight on my run! Wow how 2 weeks off makes a big difference.
Last week was an interesting week. My mom came in to town to help plan more of the wedding, we were on Good Morning America (TV debut!), New York had a record snow fall (#10 biggest snow fall since the 1800's) and I was deathly ill for a couple of days. Top that off with a couple of never ending headaches and before you know it, it's been 2 weeks!


Even though the snow storm was a mere 6 days ago, most of it is gone and it's a pleasant 40 degrees out tonight, so it seemed like a good time for a run outside. Thank goodness too, because I'm getting so tired of treadmill runs. I got my new iPhone about a month ago, but still haven't transferred my music over, so I only had one song to listen to which happened to be a really slow song (Terrified, by Katherine McPhee). Not exactly a running motivator. I listened to it for about 15 blocks until I couldn't take it anymore. I had to stop for a minute and download a Kesha song to get pumped up. That's the beauty of technology. You can get new music right at your fingertips, even in the middle of your workout!

True or False

True or False?

Pressing the elevator close door button over and over again actually speeds up the door and makes it close faster.

I see so many people in this city that tap that button repeatedly, not wanting any more people to get on the elevator, but it never really seems like the door closes any faster. And, the button is located near the controls for the Fire Department, which makes me think it's not even active all the time.

When a person does this, most notably in my office building, a little bit of claustrophobia sets in. I'm a highly claustrophobic person, which may seem surprising since I chose to live in this insanely claustrophobic city.. What with all the people, and subways, and tiny apartments, it probably seems like someone like myself with stay away from. I didn't think about this first.

Anyways, if you know, let me know. A lot of times I feel like I might yell at the person beating on the button for fear of malfunction. Knowing that it doesn't even work might help.

I need some sleep!

I've been a little MIA lately because I've had so much going on with work, the wedding, and my personal favorite, migraines. Migraines, oh how I love you. You really know how to ruin my night and keep me from sleep.

I tossed and turned for hours last night, trying to ignore the immense pounding above my eye. I finally decided to spare Ryan (even though he was snoring and probably didn't even notice) and went to the couch. The couch is a little bit of bliss because it's always nice and cool and dark in the living room. However, when you're forced awake by the shooting pains in your head, you start to really focus on all of the little noises that go on at night. There's the hum of the refrigerator, the clanking of the pipes in the radiator, and my new personal favorite, the drip drip drip of our humidifier. The humidifier was purchased to prevent the hacking that occurs in our dogs at night from all of the heat in the apartment, so the noise annoyances are a toss up. Although if you'd ever heard our dogs hack, I think you'd agree that the dripping is a bit more tolerable. Hacking is a noise that I absolutely can't stand. I used to have a colleague that would do it constantly at work and it mortified me. But anyways, I digress.

So there I was, cozied up on the couch, trying to count sheep, or shoes, or anything I could to fall into a slumber, when I feel a little scratching on my leg. I didn't even have to look over to know what it was. My little dog, Gisele, always has to sleep near me, regardless of where it is, so I invited her up on the couch with me.


It didn't take long before my other dog wanted to join us. He's a little less polite, and just hops up to wherever he wanted to be. Most times he thinks it's completely fine for him to lay right on top of you. I have to remind him that he's not a cat. So the three of us cuddled up together on the couch, which basically paralyzed my legs all night.
Needless to say, I did not sleep well. The whole point of this is to tell you that I don't have a running post today, so check out this one below. The author is blogging about my favorite author, Brendan Brazier, on his site Vega. Check it out, and check out his products and books.

http://www.vegacommunity.com/profiles/blogs/the-lesserknown-perks-of

...But It Doesn't Matter

This week I started week 2 of my marathon training program. I'm supposed to run 16 miles total this week, with 3 tonight, so overall not too bad at all.

For me, it's so easy to get distracted and make excuses. It's late, I'm tired, there's a blizzard outside, there's a shoe sale I should go to, and on and on. One of the biggest challenges for me when attempting this marathon, and most things in my life, is learning discipline. I need to train myself to train. In my training book, the authors talk about listing all of the excuses that you may have, then ending it with 'but it doesn't matter'. So, there's a torrential downpour outside and I'm exhausted, 'but it doesn't matter'. I like this idea. It puts a positive spin on everything and makes all of the excuses not seem as legitimate.
I'm sure this is an approach that I'm going to probably be relying on a lot in the next couple of months.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope everyone is having a great day. Ryan and I went to our first New York Rangers hockey game. It was so much fun! I had no idea I would enjoy hockey so much. There were two fights and even a marriage proposal. The poor guy got denied while the entire arena watched. The woman was so horrified that she got up and ran out.

What did everyone do/get for Valentine's day? I got a great pair of shoes, 2 dozen roses, and a treated to a nice breakfast of New York's best bagels- H and H bagels. I'm so lucky to have such a great guy!

Now we're off to dinner. Have a great night!

MTV Motivates Me

Ryan and I had a pretty interesting conversation today that went something like this:

Me: (Super excited after getting off the scale and feeling skinny) Hey Ryan, do you think I look any skinnier?

Ryan: (After a long pause) I can't really tell.

Thanks babe. He did follow it up with a 'but you look really good' but at that point I wasn't really listening.

Today was my long run of 5 miles, so by around 2:00 I had convinced myself to head to the gym. Luckily the place was deserted, so I had my pick of the treadmills. I was very excited to get my favorite one that has great fan on it. And, I got even luckier when there was a 16 & Pregnant marathon on MTV of episodes that I hadn't seen before. I got so in to it that I ended up running an extra mile. At that point I was a little tired, so I texted Ryan to have him dvr the rest of them.
Is anyone else excited about the season premiere next week? I heard that one of the teen's is from my home town.

I really love MTV for shows like this, even though I'm probably not their target audience. I started thinking this after I had seen about a million acne commercials. What other station can give you great shows like this and Jersey Shore?

anyways, I'm off to buy my Valentine's day present. We agreed that was a good deal this year. Not romantic really, but we both end up happy! Ryan got tickets to the NY Rangers which we'll go see tomorrow, and I am getting a fabulous new pair of shoes!

Follow Me on Twitter

A friend of mine suggested that I add a Twitter account to the page. Click here to follow me!
@wannaberunnerNY

Me= Not Athletic

*I'm trying to update the layout of my page, so you may see it change a bit over the next couple of days.

Today was Day 1 of my new waking up early ritual. I set my alarm last night for 6, then decided that maybe that was a wee bit too ambitious for my first morning, and reset it for 6:30.

6:30 turned out to be a rather unfortunate time because I was right in the middle of a great dream, but I dutifully turned the alarm off and stayed awake. It took a lot of mental coaxing on my part, but I did get out of bed. It wasn't much, but I feel like it was a start. Baby steps.

Since I didn't get up in time to do my run in the morning, I have to go tonight...or in the morning. I know, I know, I have to be more dedicated to my running schedule, but it's just so hard. For some reason I thought training would be more fun. I mean, I like to run, sortof, although I'm kindof defying my body by doing so. I am in no way built to be athletic. I have short legs and a little torso. Oh, and I have asthma. I'm definitely not physically cut out for this, which is probably what my body has been thinking lately. It tolerated me through my half marathon training, but this is a whole other story.

I'm sure my body and I will have a few heart to hearts as to why I'm attempting to do this. My guess is one of these will start around 8:00 AM tomorrow...or 9...or maybe 10. We'll see.

Morning Motivation

Today has been a good day so far. I’ve weighed myself and I’ve lost 2 lbs (yay me!) and my blog hit the 100 views mark! May not seem like a big deal, but it makes me feel good to know that people are actually reading it (Ryan doesn’t count)

Every night when I go to sleep I tell myself, maybe tomorrow morning I’ll get up a little earlier and go for a run, take the dogs for a long walk, do some morning yoga, etc etc, and it never happens. I even set the alarm on my iPhone for multiple times; once at 5:30, 6:00, and so on, but it never fails that I never see the day before 7 on a weekday. Ryan is so good about not nagging me about my alarm, because I know it’s annoying. Why even set it and allow it go off every 10 minutes, if I’m never going to get up on time? I think mostly it’s because I have ambition, just no discipline.

In the spring and summer it’s not nearly as difficult because I am anxious to get outside then. Going for a run in Central Park in the morning is one of my favorite things to do in the city. You get to see this place come alive, with the food vendors hauling their carts to their street corners, people out walking their dogs, and the hundreds of people that flock to the park to get a workout in before the start of their day. I like being a part of that.

But now during the winter when it’s yucky and dark out and cold, the only thing I want to do is hibernate under the warm covers. I especially feel this way since getting up early makes me envious of Ryan, still sleeping peacefully while I pull myself out of my slumber. I wish I could be like my little terrier, bouncing off the bed and walls (literally) at 6 am, fully of energy and ready to go.

I need some sort of morning motivation to get me out of bed and on the go, and not so rushed. Because that’s what I end up being nearly every morning: rushed.

I did a little research online to see if there was advice (non-medicated) to help with my little problem. I came across one site the recommends disciplining you to just get up as soon as the alarm goes off. Don’t think about it, don’t hit snooze, just get up. This one sounds a little easier said than done. If that was all there was to it, millions of people would be doing that by now.

With that said, I think that this could be a good starting point. You practice at everything else in your life to succeed, and this is just another task that must be worked at. I couldn’t just complete this marathon with training and preparing myself for it.

This approach is about setting a wake-up ritual.

I’m going to try it tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

Do you have any motivators that help get you up in the morning? I could use the suggestions!

The Happiness Project

Mother Nature decided to blanket our city in a blizzard today, so there's not much chance for running outside. It's really coming down like crazy. I'm hoping to make it to the gym tonight for another 4 mile run.

Aside from that, I've been reading this great book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It's about setting resolutions for yourself throughout the year to help you focus more on being happy. For example, treating your spouse with more respect or making strides in your job to increase your happiness. You can even go to the author's site and create your own Happiness Project and set your own goals. Check out the author's blog here: http://www.happiness-project.com/

**Well, I decided to venture out into the snow to go to the gym. I think any direction I walked, the wind was blowing hard in my face. Those snowflakes feel like needles when they hit your face
and I got my poor running shoes wet by mistaking a HUGE puddle for the sidewalk. There's nothing more enjoyable than running in soggy shoes.
When I got to the gym, I found out that they were closing early because of the weather, but I had about 40 minutes that I could get a decent run in. Thanks to the weather, the gym wasn't nearly as crowded and I actually got a good treadmill. (This also goes for the subway. I actually got a seat during rush hour!) You know how it is- you get used to a certain gym and the equipment and you scout out the good stuff. The treadmill I got tonight had fans on BOTH sides. Those are never available! So that and a re-run of The Office made for an enjoyable run. Now let me take a sec to complain about NYSC. Right at 7 one of the workers came upstairs to where all of the cardio machines are and turned the lights off, saying they were now closed. What!? How can you even do that while people are still running? Isn't that a little dangerous? I understand that they wanted to get home, but that is absolutely no way to run a business. I go back to what I've always said about customer service in New York- there's not any. Or if there is, I rarely experience it. My guess is that location is getting quite a few complaints tonight from some unhappy exercisers.

Bridal Bootcamp

I spent half of last week recovering from a hurt knee and the other half making excuses why I shouldn't go running. I did have one decent excuse- my best friend Rebecca came in for the weekend and there was no time for running, only shopping.

However, I did realize today that my wedding is 3 and a half months from today and this bride needs to get in gear. So this marathon training is doubling as bridal bootcamp.

Some things I've realized since I started training:
1- Don't EVER start training for a marathon when it's freaking cold outside unless you have a nice warm car to commute to the gym in.

2- Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream does not count as a good pre-workout snack. You will pay for that later.

3- Running outside in the cold is ridiculous....and brutal.

Since I only had to run 3 miles today, it seemed silly to walk 6 blocks in the cold to get to the gym, so I put on a few layers and headed outside. It all started out well enough. I turned my ipod on to Lady Gaga and started around the block. Halfway through Just Dance it hit me: this was down right painful.

Pros of running outside- You run fast in order to convince yourself that if you run fast enough, you'll warm up, and this whole silly thing won't be so bad.

Cons of running outside- You never truly warm up because your ears are on the verge of frostbite and your lungs feel like they'll never stop burning.

After weighing these pros and cons, surprisingly the cons won out and I decided to just walk the 6 blocks to the gym. I made my way to the treadmills, picked one, and started running. That's when #2 on the list kicked in- Ben and Jerry's= not a good workout buddy.

I wrapped up my run and walked my freezing self home. Tomorrow is my next run of 4 miles. I think I'll be more properly fueled, and prepared, for this one.

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Reality

First off, you would think that the streets would be relatively empty at 10:30 at night on a Monday in January. And in any other city you might be right, but not in New York. I suppose it's because temperatures here have finally spiked to a reasonable degree here at 50 degrees and people are celebrating like it's spring. Whatever the reason, I had to weave in and out of people the entire run.

When I made it to the end of the block, I had to quickly decide which way to go. Right would take me up towards Lincoln Center to a really nice part of town, but the road splits in a weird way at a certain point, and it's always a pain in the butt to navigate when you're trying to keep a decent pace.
Left would take me downtown, towards Times Square. I decided to go left. I've run this way a few times before, but I guess I must've gone a little farther than usual tonight. I ended up down by where the Lincoln Tunnel connects to the city and is basically a flood gate for all of the traffic coming in. Also, not the best part of town apparently. Had I spent any longer in that area, I probably would've ended up high from all of the pot that was being smoked. Oh well, what else do people that live by bridges have to do? I don't think I'll be running that route again any time soon.

I was a bit self conscious the whole run because I was forced to wear my laundry day running pants. Ha- that would be a good thing if today was even laundry day. But it's not. And tomorrow probably won't be either. Ryan and I have a difficult time doing the laundry and any one that's ever lived in an apartment building and shared 4 washers and dryers among 100 units would understand. You have to lug all your stuff down to the basement, pray for a couple open machines, and then wait the hour and a half that it takes to complete just one load. On the plus side, I've had more compliments on my rolling laundry cart than anything else. Like the weather, it just seems to be a conversation starter. Bed Bath & Beyond owes me some money for all of the people that I've sent their way for this awesome invention.
Back to the pants. These pants have been around for longer than any pants should be. I believe they were purchased my freshman year of college, so you do the math. That's been a while. Oh, and they're a little snug. Just a little. I've thought on many occasions that I should throw them away, but then what would I do on nights like this with nothing else to wear? Solution? Wear a slightly longer shirt to cover just how snuggish they are. Oh, and don't stand at red lights too long where people can get a good look at you. As long as you're moving, you really can't tell. Who knows, maybe I'll break down and order some more running pants from Target. I think they're on sale this week! I was supposed to do a 3 mile run tonight, but only ended up doing 2.5. I think my pants were cutting into my vital organs, and I some strange pains came over me. That's ok though. I'm a month ahead of my training schedule.

So this post is getting pretty long- Just one more thing. I'm following a new running guide for non-marathon runners. I think they have a 100% success rate for their approach, so I feel like I'm in good hands. The book is called The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer. The 'lessons' are broken down by week, so you start your week off motivated. Here's a great line from this week's lesson: Change your thoughts or action and you change your reality.

On that note, I'm going to bed. Good night!

Yay for days off!

It is a great day. Why? Because it's a Monday and I'm off of work!! Plus, Ryan has to work today, which means I get the apartment to myself. This means that I get to watch as many uninterrupted episodes of Secret Life of The American Teenager as I want without being told how stupid it is.

I ordered a new marathon training book from Barnes and Noble this morning and since I get same day delivery in Manhattan, it should be here by tonight! And yes, I could have just walked the 8 blocks to the actual store, but the prices are cheaper online, so it's a win-win. I hope it's a good book.

I'm heading to the gym in a couple hours, and hoping to run 5-6 miles today. I'll post how it goes.

If you're not working today, enjoy your day off. And if you are working today, you should find a more holiday-friendly employer!



***I finished my run today. The pro is that I did 6 miles and the gym wasn't too crowded. The con is that I must have pulled something in my lower back because it is hurting like a mo fo.

First run in the new year

It took me a few days into the new year to finally get motivated enough to walk the 6.5 blocks in the freezing cold to the gym, but I made it today. I didn't make it very long during my run today. Only 2.5 miles, but it was a decent start. Maybe better tomorrow!