OK, so this post title has 2 meanings...
First, I was thinking about the whole changing my blog title and 1) I can't come up with a name I like and 2) I dont want to change the URL b/c I don't want it to get lost on any lists I'm already on. So... for now, Exercise ADD is stuck, but maybe in the future, I will post a much longer and more gradual change.
Second, I wanted to talk about what happened over the summer after my stress fracture. See this post for the explanation of the injury. Even though I was injured, I could still do low impact cardio like cycling or swimming (which isn't easy in NYC unfortunately). I decided to do cycling at the gym (one day I'll tell you all why I won't ride a bike outdoors, but thats a story for another day). I went to the gym a couple times a week to cycle, and also did crunches most of the time when I was there.
Occasionally, if Cameron went to the gym, I would go with him to the weight room. I made a vague attempt to gain muscle, but as I have a fear of the weight room, I had a very hard time going on my own. This fear stems from feeling like I don't know what I'm doing in the weight room and I don't like to have trainers/staff help me, but I don't want to look like a moron.
As a result, I would really only go with Cameron, or I'd go in by myself, do 3 machines Cameron had shown me (probably in the wrong order or on the wrong day) and then sprint out of there.
Then September hit and I started going to NJ a lot to deal with wedding related things. Which meant fitting in gym time was harder and harder, but I was able to go once or twice a week. And then about 2 weeks before the wedding, I got a cold, and then threw my hands up in the air and essentially said, "SCREW YOU" to exercise.
I also had this issue where I really missed running as soon as I was booted. I was very surprised the first time I said to myself, "Today is a great day for running, I can't believe I can't!" I also was a lot more stressed out, on edge and generally crankier. Yes, there was wedding stress, but I had this itchy feeling like I didn't have an outlet for it.
What I realized is that running outside felt different than other forms of exercise for me. The big thing was that I was disconnected from my life, but connected to the rest of the world. I'm not coordinated enough to ever check my phone while running, which means text messages, facebook, emails and phone calls have to wait. BUT, I'm outside with all these other people, observing how other people exercise, what other people wear, and looking into other people's lives. I can't zone out and watch TV like I can on a bike, but I listen to pandora and get lots of new songs and keep myself current.
Also, and this will sound very bizarre... I missed hating running. Yup, thats right. I spent a lot of energy during my runs saying, "f*** you hudson river" or "if only I could run as fast as that guy, I'd be done running by now" which got out a lot of my stress and anger towards other things in my life.
The first few weeks without running were really tough. I felt very un-regulated and like I wasn't sure how to de-stress. I tried napping, which I've done in the past, and it's generally unsuccessful. I tried the bike at the gym, but I felt so un-isolated, that I couldn't process my own thoughts. In the end, I just had to do the best I could and try to get by without.
A few weeks into being booted, I didn't miss running so much anymore, but I did start to obsess over how much I had probably lost throughout all this, and I started to get discouraged. I worked so hard to be able to run 4 miles, and now I probably lost it all. It was very easy to let my mind think about what went wrong, and not how things will be in the future. Also, my diet went downhill. Not that I have the best diet to begin with, but I was starting to eat lunch consistently, and I was starting to have healthier snacks. Pfft, that went out the window very quickly.
Now that my foot is better again, I'm starting really slowly. I realized that jumping into it too quickly set me so far back. I'd rather do very short runs for a little bit and gradually build up my speed and distance. I'm not training for the Olympics, so why take the risk??
How do you feel when you can't do your favorite form of exercise? What is your favorite form of exercise?
A blog about me, my fitness goals, and the inability to stick to one form of exercise for more than a short period of time. Oooh I see something shiny!
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
HI!!! I'm BACK!!
Hello world, I'm back!
So what the hell happened to me? Quick summary. So last you all saw me, I fractured my foot and was in a walking boot. I wore the walking boot for approximately 2 months, and have been finished with it since the beginning of October. During that time, I used the bike at the gym and did a little weightlifting (only if Cameron came with me), but obviously no classes, no yoga and most importantly, no running.
So why didn't I reappear in the beginning of October when the boot came off??
Here are a couple of pictures from our wedding:
OK, that was October 14, why didn't I start blogging and exercising right after that??
That's a little tougher to answer.... I'm not sure why to be honest. I wanted to and even had moments where I thought about writing, but then I just didn't. But now I feel ready and I'm back and ready to document my exercise "adventures" and other life events.
However, I've done a lot of thinking about this "journey" I started over a year ago. When I started exercising, I was just trying to get into the habit of doing something a few times a week. When I started blogging, my goal was to try all sorts of different forms of exercise.
When I was injured, I found what I missed most was running. I'm not sure if I missed running because I'd been training or because that was the form of exercise (I feel like I've said exercise too much) that alleviated the most stress for me.
I think my journey is evolving. It makes sense thinking about it. My first goal was to just do ANYTHING. It really was to just make it to the gym or a class several times a week. I didn't care how I did, I just had to stay for 30 minutes or the duration of the class. My next goal was to explore different options. I thought that I would get bored doing the same thing (hence exercise ADD), but I also was looking for something that I enjoyed, was good at, or wanted to keep going back to. Unexpectedly, I found that: running.
So I think my focus now is running, and improving my time and increasing distance. I still plan to take classes when I can and do other activities, but my main focus is really going to be running. With that, I want to change the name of my blog and update the format. Suggestions are welcome!!
How have your goal changed over time? What should I rename my blog?
So what the hell happened to me? Quick summary. So last you all saw me, I fractured my foot and was in a walking boot. I wore the walking boot for approximately 2 months, and have been finished with it since the beginning of October. During that time, I used the bike at the gym and did a little weightlifting (only if Cameron came with me), but obviously no classes, no yoga and most importantly, no running.
So why didn't I reappear in the beginning of October when the boot came off??
Cuz we got married!!
Here are a couple of pictures from our wedding:
OK, that was October 14, why didn't I start blogging and exercising right after that??
That's a little tougher to answer.... I'm not sure why to be honest. I wanted to and even had moments where I thought about writing, but then I just didn't. But now I feel ready and I'm back and ready to document my exercise "adventures" and other life events.
However, I've done a lot of thinking about this "journey" I started over a year ago. When I started exercising, I was just trying to get into the habit of doing something a few times a week. When I started blogging, my goal was to try all sorts of different forms of exercise.
When I was injured, I found what I missed most was running. I'm not sure if I missed running because I'd been training or because that was the form of exercise (I feel like I've said exercise too much) that alleviated the most stress for me.
I think my journey is evolving. It makes sense thinking about it. My first goal was to just do ANYTHING. It really was to just make it to the gym or a class several times a week. I didn't care how I did, I just had to stay for 30 minutes or the duration of the class. My next goal was to explore different options. I thought that I would get bored doing the same thing (hence exercise ADD), but I also was looking for something that I enjoyed, was good at, or wanted to keep going back to. Unexpectedly, I found that: running.
So I think my focus now is running, and improving my time and increasing distance. I still plan to take classes when I can and do other activities, but my main focus is really going to be running. With that, I want to change the name of my blog and update the format. Suggestions are welcome!!
How have your goal changed over time? What should I rename my blog?
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Hello, how are you?
I am SOOOO sorry! I have been MIA and particularly unmotivated to write anything because I am no longer working towards the half-marathon and took almost a week and a half off of exercising. I went back to my pre-exercising life. And it was weird.
My ankle is still a mess. I went to the Mt. Sinai urgent care center on the Upper West Side to have them check it out last Monday. If I had to write a review of it (which I guess I could on yelp), I would say... it was a very unpleasant experience. The place is gorgeous (sorry I didn't think to take a picture) but I was there for over 3 hours and I didn't feel like I got a lot out of the visit.
What took so long? Were there lot's of people and your 2 week old injury was not high as "urgent" as other issues? Maybe they did a very thorough work up?
NO.
I have no idea what took so long. When I got there, there was no one waiting in the immaculate waiting room. I think maybe one woman came in while I was waiting and that was it. It was bad from the getgo. It took like 40 minutes just to get called into a room.
Once I was called into a room, a nurse took my blood pressure, asked my history etc. He then said it would be 10-15 minutes until the doctor came into my room.
It was 35. There was a clock on the phone in the room that I was watching for most of the time. I had gone straight there from Penn Station with my overnight stuff from a trip to DC. My cell phone was dying, my nook was dead and there was not a single magazine in the room. So I watched the clock. I think I've enjoyed watching water boil more than I enjoyed watching that clock.
So the doctor comes, and she looks at it for 5 seconds. "Well it could be a stress fracture or it could be a sprain" No shit, doc, that's what I thought too! I'm here for your x-ray machine.
She recommends an x-ray (something that could have happened over an hour ago at this point) and leaves the room. 20-25 minutes later, the nurse comes back in and takes me for an x-ray. He takes 3 x-rays and then sends me back to my room. The x-rays took about 10 minutes to do.
30 minutes later, I leave the room because no one has come to tell me what the hell is wrong with me. I ask someone at the check-out desk (I know, its not a hotel, but I can't think of a better thing to call that desk), and within a minute, the nurse reappears. With crutches.
He comes into my room with the crutches and an ace bandage and wraps my foot. I asked him what was wrong with it and he gave some weird vague answer that indicated the doctor would tell me. I then tell him that I do not want the crutches because they are not practical for my life and if I could have something else, that would be helpful. He has to check with the doctor, and so after wrapping my foot (which took about 4 minutes)
So another 10 minutes later, the nurse and doctor both come back in. The doctor said there was nothing on the x-ray, so its probably a sprain, but it could still be a stress fracture. Can I see my x-rays? No. Can I have my x-rays? No. She also said that I don't have to use the crutches but I should stay off of my foot as much as possible and recommended that I try not to run. I thought it was kind of weird that it was just okay for me to not use the crutches, but they didn't have an alternative to promote recovery (i.e. an air cast or a boot). I asked how long it will take to recover, and she gave me a vague, "well it depends" answer and kind of shuffled me out of the door. She also said I needed to follow-up with an orthopedist anyway. That all took about 5 minutes.
I go to the check-out desk, and apparently the doctor has to sign off on my paperwork and write up the referral, which of course, she has not done yet. So another 5-10 minutes go by while the doctor is draining someone else's finger or something (why would you start that before signing my paperwork?? Wouldn't you want to wrap one person up since it only takes 15 seconds?) and then that person comes out and hes all cranky because he was waiting a long time. Except not nearly as long. So she's trying to check us both out at once which is very confusing.
FINALLY... over 3 hours later, I am out of there! On my way home at 7:00pm and exhausted. In total, I spent about 20 minutes with people, and the rest of the time waiting which is a pretty terrible proportion. And not only that, but I knew it was either a sprain or a stress fracture and I'd already stopped running (but thanks for the advice) a week before that. And now I have to go to an orthopedist at Mt. Sinai because they have my damn x-rays! Mt. Sinai is on the Upper East Side so not terribly convenient for where I live.
OH, and to add insult to injury (haha no pun intended), I called Mt. Sinai to make an appointment with the orthopedist, and after being assured by the Urgent Care Center that all their providers take my insurance, I find out that the foot/ankle specialist DOES NOT take my insurance.
I'm off to the non-foot/ankle orthopedist tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully I won't be there as long.
Have you ever had an experience like this at an Urgent Care Center? Do you know of any more efficient Urgent Care Centers?
My ankle is still a mess. I went to the Mt. Sinai urgent care center on the Upper West Side to have them check it out last Monday. If I had to write a review of it (which I guess I could on yelp), I would say... it was a very unpleasant experience. The place is gorgeous (sorry I didn't think to take a picture) but I was there for over 3 hours and I didn't feel like I got a lot out of the visit.
What took so long? Were there lot's of people and your 2 week old injury was not high as "urgent" as other issues? Maybe they did a very thorough work up?
NO.
I have no idea what took so long. When I got there, there was no one waiting in the immaculate waiting room. I think maybe one woman came in while I was waiting and that was it. It was bad from the getgo. It took like 40 minutes just to get called into a room.
Once I was called into a room, a nurse took my blood pressure, asked my history etc. He then said it would be 10-15 minutes until the doctor came into my room.
It was 35. There was a clock on the phone in the room that I was watching for most of the time. I had gone straight there from Penn Station with my overnight stuff from a trip to DC. My cell phone was dying, my nook was dead and there was not a single magazine in the room. So I watched the clock. I think I've enjoyed watching water boil more than I enjoyed watching that clock.
So the doctor comes, and she looks at it for 5 seconds. "Well it could be a stress fracture or it could be a sprain" No shit, doc, that's what I thought too! I'm here for your x-ray machine.
She recommends an x-ray (something that could have happened over an hour ago at this point) and leaves the room. 20-25 minutes later, the nurse comes back in and takes me for an x-ray. He takes 3 x-rays and then sends me back to my room. The x-rays took about 10 minutes to do.
30 minutes later, I leave the room because no one has come to tell me what the hell is wrong with me. I ask someone at the check-out desk (I know, its not a hotel, but I can't think of a better thing to call that desk), and within a minute, the nurse reappears. With crutches.
He comes into my room with the crutches and an ace bandage and wraps my foot. I asked him what was wrong with it and he gave some weird vague answer that indicated the doctor would tell me. I then tell him that I do not want the crutches because they are not practical for my life and if I could have something else, that would be helpful. He has to check with the doctor, and so after wrapping my foot (which took about 4 minutes)
So another 10 minutes later, the nurse and doctor both come back in. The doctor said there was nothing on the x-ray, so its probably a sprain, but it could still be a stress fracture. Can I see my x-rays? No. Can I have my x-rays? No. She also said that I don't have to use the crutches but I should stay off of my foot as much as possible and recommended that I try not to run. I thought it was kind of weird that it was just okay for me to not use the crutches, but they didn't have an alternative to promote recovery (i.e. an air cast or a boot). I asked how long it will take to recover, and she gave me a vague, "well it depends" answer and kind of shuffled me out of the door. She also said I needed to follow-up with an orthopedist anyway. That all took about 5 minutes.
I go to the check-out desk, and apparently the doctor has to sign off on my paperwork and write up the referral, which of course, she has not done yet. So another 5-10 minutes go by while the doctor is draining someone else's finger or something (why would you start that before signing my paperwork?? Wouldn't you want to wrap one person up since it only takes 15 seconds?) and then that person comes out and hes all cranky because he was waiting a long time. Except not nearly as long. So she's trying to check us both out at once which is very confusing.
FINALLY... over 3 hours later, I am out of there! On my way home at 7:00pm and exhausted. In total, I spent about 20 minutes with people, and the rest of the time waiting which is a pretty terrible proportion. And not only that, but I knew it was either a sprain or a stress fracture and I'd already stopped running (but thanks for the advice) a week before that. And now I have to go to an orthopedist at Mt. Sinai because they have my damn x-rays! Mt. Sinai is on the Upper East Side so not terribly convenient for where I live.
OH, and to add insult to injury (haha no pun intended), I called Mt. Sinai to make an appointment with the orthopedist, and after being assured by the Urgent Care Center that all their providers take my insurance, I find out that the foot/ankle specialist DOES NOT take my insurance.
I'm off to the non-foot/ankle orthopedist tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. Hopefully I won't be there as long.
Have you ever had an experience like this at an Urgent Care Center? Do you know of any more efficient Urgent Care Centers?
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Recap of the past 2 weeks
Sorry guys, I disappeared for a couple of weeks. Between wedding stuff, work and other things, I've been super busy... not a great excuse!
Let's start with training week #3 - how did I do??
Week #3 went great! Because of other commitments, I ended up not sticking to this order, but thats okay. I ran 6.00 miles on that Friday from work to home. It was pouring rain and it was a tough run, but I did it. Not only that, but on Sunday, I did my 4 mile run and I ran the entire time. I was very proud of myself and was so pumped that I actually ran 4 whole miles - thats such awesome progress and I felt great after the run. It definitely helped that it was about 20 degrees cooler than it had been in the past 2 months, but it doesn't matter because I was still able to do it!
Also, the 3 mile run I did on a treadmill and it went pretty terribly. I don't know what it is, but I hate the treadmill. I can only run for like 10 minutes and then I feel like I'm dying of boredom/exhaustion. Even though I'm going slower than I do when I'm running outside, it still feels harder. Does anyone else ever feel this way??
So with the overall high from week 3, I was pumped to start week 4. My legs were sore from running 10 miles between Friday and Sunday, but I was actually excited last Monday to go for another run and see if I could do the whole thing again.
Here was the plan for week 4:
Not bad, only adding an extra mile to the 1st run, but otherwise, basically the same as week 4.
Here is what happened on week 4:
Whaaaaaa??? Such a confusing week! What happened?!?
I think I sprained my ankle. You know how I said my legs were sore after running on Friday and Sunday? Well my ankle was very uncomfortable, but I assumed it was because of running so much. On Monday, when I went for my 5 mile run, about 0.76 miles in, my ankle was in a lot of pain and I decided to stop running. The only reason its 1.3 miles is because I had to walk back to my apartment. I tried running a couple more times hoping that it was just very tired, but every time I took a step, I could feel my ankle/foot hurting.
On Tuesday, I had to go see a client in the evening and then on Wednesday we had our tasting for our wedding, so I had to take those days off anyway. I rested my ankle and figured that it was still probably muscle soreness/tiredness. Or maybe I needed new shoes...
On Thursday, I laced up, got back to running and went for 3 miles. It continued to be uncomfortable, but I pushed through the run. See, the thing is, I don't trust myself when I'm sick or injured. I'm never sure if I'm genuinely injured/sick (unless its obvious like I have a fever), and so I tend to just believe it's all in my head/I need to push through it. There is no visible swelling, so there is no proof that I'm injured, other than discomfort. And I'm a baby, so I'm uncomfortable when I run anyway.
I decided on Friday morning to buy an ankle brace to see if that helped relieve some pressure so I could run on Friday afternoon. I put it on and it instantly felt much better. Not perfect, but much much better. I decided not to run on Friday and take a couple more days off.
When I got home and took off the brace, there was some bruising by my ankle, which wasn't noticeable before. I don't know if the compression increased blood flow and made bruising more apparent, but based on the improvement with the brace and the bruising, I'm pretty sure it's an ankle sprain.
So what does that mean for my half marathon training?
No more running for at least a week. I am going to go on a bike for an hour as often as I can - at least 3 times a week, because I don't want to lose the cardio base I've built up. It really sucks going on a stationary bike for an hour. It's just very boring, even while watching TV, listening to music or reading on my phone. After this week, I'll see how my ankle feels and do a short test run. If it feels good, I'll try a longer run, and then just pick up where I should be. I might have to tweak my schedule or add an extra run when I can to keep adding the mileage, but I'll worry about that once I'm back to running. Who knows, it could be a week, it could be a month, so there is no sense planning a schedule when I don't know what will happen.
 |
| Icing my ankle |
How have you handled injuries/setbacks? Do you prefer running outside or on the treadmill?
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Training Week # 3
Let's check in! How did training week #2 go??
I added 1.00 mile to my weekly total AND I cut my average pace/mile by over a minute! I have to say... antibiotics for bronchitis made all the difference!
During the middle run for this week, I was able to run for 75% of the run, including the entire first 2 miles. That was the first time I'd run 2 miles continuously without walking breaks. It might not sound like a lot, but as a relatively new runner (ok, it's been almost a year, but a lot of this year has been trial and error) its huge. I have no athletic base to build off of, and so I was literally starting from scratch. Running 2 miles continuously as a 10 min pace is pretty good.
I also took a hot yoga class at Pure Yoga on Tuesday night. The class itself was okay - it was a community class and my friend and I felt it was a very advanced class. I'll write a full review this week... but it was not up to the usual Pure standards that we've seen in other classes.
What's coming up for this week:
I'm added 1 more mile to my weekly today during my long run. I'm excited for this because I work 5.5 miles from home, so this means I can use my commute home as a run... I might have to overshoot home, but at least I'm saving some time.
The rest of the week is going to be tight - I have a very exciting and busy weekend coming up! We are going to the sample presentation for the florist for our wedding and then on Sunday, we're going to see Book of Mormon with my family. My sister-in-law's parents got us tickets for Christmas, and at the time, July 22 seemed ages away. Now it's here.
Thursday I'm going to get my orthodontist in NJ to get my Invisalign taken off... I think. Yes, I have Invisalign. When I got my initial braces off when I was 14/15, my teeth were great. I wore my retainers through my freshman year of college and then stopped. My wisdom teeth came in/were impacted and pushed all of my teeth - particularly my bottom teeth - all out of sorts. When it came time for the wedding, I decided to go for Invisalign because I didn't want pictures of my teeth to look terrible. It's a little superficial, but there were always pictures of brides with their mouths open laughing or talking, and I just kept thinking, "oh gosh, these pictures are beautiful, my teeth are going to ruin these pictures of me!!" However, I have noticed that as a result of the Invisalign, I have been much more meticulous brushing and caring for my teeth, and I have also found that my teeth are easier to brush and floss as a result of my teeth not being on top of each other. It has definitely had it's benefits, but I am excited to get the little brackets (yes there are little brackets even though its Invisalign) taken off and to not have to wear them constantly!
To sum up, I have to run 3 out of my 4 available days, which isn't that big a deal, but it just shows how inflexible my schedule will be for the next few weeks. I have time to fun, but I can't be lazy/procrastinate because I don't have time to make up that run if I decide not to go.
How are you doing making progress towards your goals? Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend?
I added 1.00 mile to my weekly total AND I cut my average pace/mile by over a minute! I have to say... antibiotics for bronchitis made all the difference!
During the middle run for this week, I was able to run for 75% of the run, including the entire first 2 miles. That was the first time I'd run 2 miles continuously without walking breaks. It might not sound like a lot, but as a relatively new runner (ok, it's been almost a year, but a lot of this year has been trial and error) its huge. I have no athletic base to build off of, and so I was literally starting from scratch. Running 2 miles continuously as a 10 min pace is pretty good.
I also took a hot yoga class at Pure Yoga on Tuesday night. The class itself was okay - it was a community class and my friend and I felt it was a very advanced class. I'll write a full review this week... but it was not up to the usual Pure standards that we've seen in other classes.
What's coming up for this week:
I'm added 1 more mile to my weekly today during my long run. I'm excited for this because I work 5.5 miles from home, so this means I can use my commute home as a run... I might have to overshoot home, but at least I'm saving some time.
The rest of the week is going to be tight - I have a very exciting and busy weekend coming up! We are going to the sample presentation for the florist for our wedding and then on Sunday, we're going to see Book of Mormon with my family. My sister-in-law's parents got us tickets for Christmas, and at the time, July 22 seemed ages away. Now it's here.
Thursday I'm going to get my orthodontist in NJ to get my Invisalign taken off... I think. Yes, I have Invisalign. When I got my initial braces off when I was 14/15, my teeth were great. I wore my retainers through my freshman year of college and then stopped. My wisdom teeth came in/were impacted and pushed all of my teeth - particularly my bottom teeth - all out of sorts. When it came time for the wedding, I decided to go for Invisalign because I didn't want pictures of my teeth to look terrible. It's a little superficial, but there were always pictures of brides with their mouths open laughing or talking, and I just kept thinking, "oh gosh, these pictures are beautiful, my teeth are going to ruin these pictures of me!!" However, I have noticed that as a result of the Invisalign, I have been much more meticulous brushing and caring for my teeth, and I have also found that my teeth are easier to brush and floss as a result of my teeth not being on top of each other. It has definitely had it's benefits, but I am excited to get the little brackets (yes there are little brackets even though its Invisalign) taken off and to not have to wear them constantly!
To sum up, I have to run 3 out of my 4 available days, which isn't that big a deal, but it just shows how inflexible my schedule will be for the next few weeks. I have time to fun, but I can't be lazy/procrastinate because I don't have time to make up that run if I decide not to go.
How are you doing making progress towards your goals? Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend?
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I'm a REAL runner!
Why am I a real runner??
I popped my first blister! It was not as painful an experience as I thought it would be. I think the worst part was when I touched the hot part of the safety pin after sterilizing it and then dropped it back into the sink. My 2nd toe looked like it was growing another toe on the side and it was very painful. So it had to go.
Also, I learned today that I'm not supposed to wear cotton socks. Whoops.. maybe thats why my feet are always overheated and I'm getting blisters in the summer. What kind of socks does everyone else like to wear? I read online teflon or dry wick socks are the best. I looked around and they are all so expensive!! I've spent so much money on exercise stuff, and I love all of it, but I was happy to be done spending more money!
However, my feet are starting to look like runner's feet with callouses and blisters popping up. I'm well on my way to becoming a runner!
In other news:
On my google reader, I follow Well and Good NYC, which is a website that has information about living healthy in NYC. There are blog posts, reviews, exercise tips, beauty tips etc etc.
I was reading through the recent articles/blog posts when I came across this article. Hilaria Thomas Baldwin is going to head up a new yoga place called SoulYoga. So why do I care?
This is why: Yoga Vida is Spanish for Yoga Life. I really liked Hilaria as an instructor! That's cool... I just read an article about a Yoga instructor that I have had.
But wait... it gets crazier... when I took her class, she was Hilaria Thomas. NOW she is Hilaria Thomas BALDWIN. Yup, she is the 28 year old who married Alec Baldwin. I took a yoga class with Alec Baldwin's wife! I really like Alec Baldwin (especially when he hosts SNL) so it seems really cool to me.
Anyway, moving away from my 15-year-old like moment... I'm still impressed at Hilaria Thomas' promotion to heading up SoulYoga, which will no doubt become a massive hit and very popular in no time. Especially because she seems to have devoted followers from Yoga Vida - I remember people being very bummed when she announced she was taking a break from teaching for several months.
Moving on...
I apparently have had bronchitis for the last 2 weeks. So no wonder it has felt like I am breathing underwater for 2 weeks when I run. I went to the pulmonologist on Friday and he prescribed a wonderful Z-pak for me and voila... I'm all better. Most bronchitis infections are viral, but he said since it hadn't gone away in a couple weeks, he'd prescribe an antibiotic and that might help. Guess it was bacterial, or maybe it wasn't bronchitis. He also switched my steroid inhaler to Symbicort, which is less abrasive on my throat.
So yesterday I went for my first post-bronchitis run. Apparently, it was not normal for me to feel like I can't breathe, because yesterday I felt great. I ran 4 miles in 41 minutes. Hence the massive blister on my toe and my hazing into the running world.
When did you have your first "I'm a runner moment"? What kind of socks should I buy?
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Training Week # 2
OK... so how did I do with Week one... let's check it out...
I did all my miles!! Maybe not on the days that I scheduled, but I did it all. Also... that middle run may not have been so easy, but I'm pretty bad at pacing myself. Whoops.
So... Week 2...
We'll see how it goes... adding 1 mile to my total. I also will be doing Hot Yoga on Tuesday at Pure Yoga East as part of a Community Event.
In other news... it's less than 100 days until my wedding! My brain is like completely wedding crazy right now, so its nice to do something thats not wedding related.
What are your goals for the week? Did you do what you set out to do last week?
I did all my miles!! Maybe not on the days that I scheduled, but I did it all. Also... that middle run may not have been so easy, but I'm pretty bad at pacing myself. Whoops.
So... Week 2...
We'll see how it goes... adding 1 mile to my total. I also will be doing Hot Yoga on Tuesday at Pure Yoga East as part of a Community Event.
In other news... it's less than 100 days until my wedding! My brain is like completely wedding crazy right now, so its nice to do something thats not wedding related.
What are your goals for the week? Did you do what you set out to do last week?
Friday, June 29, 2012
Training schedule: Week 1
OK, so here's the deal. I am not a runner. I am not fast, I'm not great at pacing myself, etc etc. This morning, I'm running and I'm doing TERRIBLY. And I'm re-thinking this idea of posting my training progress on my blog. I've been running for almost a year and I have made a lot of progress, but I am still not "a runner".
And then I thought... I'm not trying to be a fitness expert. I'm not trying to show people that I'm this amazing runner. I am a normal person who decided to get off her ass and exercise. My blog isn't about mechanics or what research is out there that proves this exercise is better than that exercise. Nobody should expect me to run like the wind or bench press twice my weight. And if they do, then they don't know me and don't know what my purpose is. Which, fortunately for me, is not actually my problem.
So, I'm just going to lay it out there. I ran 4.00 miles in 51 minutes. That's pretty slow. My pace was 12.86/mile. I could prattle off a million excuses as to why I am so slow, but the fact of the matter is, I'm still getting used to running, especially sustaining my speed, and progress is slow but steady. I did backslide a little the last couple of weeks because I was super lazy and had a cold, so I didn't exercise for like 10 days straight. That's my own fault - I should have been exercising while sick, but I just felt frustrated.
Tim made me a schedule, which starts next week... but I wanted to give myself a little bonus time, so I ran yesterday to test out my heel and then I ran again today for a "long" run.
Here is next week's schedule:
Tim and I are huge excel dorks, so we have a nice google document that I created (and had to format in an aesthetically pleasing way) so he can see what I'm doing based on the schedule he created. Every Sunday night, I'll post the next week's schedule along with the completed table of what I did the week before.
Next Monday I'm going to go to the gym and cross train on a bicycle, then do some abs/arms. Next Thursday, I'm going to go to the Bryant Part free Yoga class. I'm not going to add the non-running to the spread sheet just because it adds a lot more clutter to it.
Reminder! Enter my CW-X discount giveaway before July 1st at midnight!!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Discount Code Giveaway!
CW-X is a subsidiary of Wacoal, which makes athletic wear... specifically support and compression gear.
I am a woman who needs a lot of support, if you catch my drift. At some point this year, Cameron and I trotted off to Paragon Sports in Union Square and I bought 2 new sports bras. One is by Moving Comfort and is pretty good, but I don't usually run in it for some reason. The other is by CW-X and is AMAZING. Its the CW-X VersaTX in Raspberry.
The bra provides a lot of support, has a triple clasp in the back and easily adjustable straps (with velcro). It comes in sizes 32-36 B/C and 32-36D.
But CW-X makes way more than just sports bras. They make support tops, compression gear, compression socks, etc. Just looking at their website, you can tell that they really work hard to make clothing that is supportive and provides athletes what they are looking for, whether its dry fabric for warm weather clothing, or additional support meshed in to support crabby knees.
To take from their facebook page and give you some more information
So, CW-X has offered me a promotion code of 30-40% off a one time purchase. It was incredibly tempting for me to use this code myself to stock up on bras, but I resisted.
How to enter: Leave a comment below telling me your favorite accessory or piece of clothing to exercise in. Bonus entry: Like CW-X on Facebook and post a comment telling me that you did that.
The giveaway ends on July 1st at Midnight. One winner will be randomly chosen on July 2nd.
Good luck!
I am a woman who needs a lot of support, if you catch my drift. At some point this year, Cameron and I trotted off to Paragon Sports in Union Square and I bought 2 new sports bras. One is by Moving Comfort and is pretty good, but I don't usually run in it for some reason. The other is by CW-X and is AMAZING. Its the CW-X VersaTX in Raspberry.
But CW-X makes way more than just sports bras. They make support tops, compression gear, compression socks, etc. Just looking at their website, you can tell that they really work hard to make clothing that is supportive and provides athletes what they are looking for, whether its dry fabric for warm weather clothing, or additional support meshed in to support crabby knees.
To take from their facebook page and give you some more information
About
CW-X® Conditioning Wear® is a new generation of revolutionary athletic performance apparel. Combining science with technology, products are anatomically designed to provide targeted support and accelerated recovery.
Mission
Wacoal Sports Science Corporation, headquartered in New York City, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wacoal International. The company's mission is to meet the sports performance needs of the active US consumer through the CW-X brand, the world's first truly anatomically-engineered high performance sports apparel.
Company Overview
Wacoal Sports Science dedicates CW-X® to people everywhere in the world who love the exhilaration and challenge of sports. To celebrate sports is to celebrate what's best in human beings.So, CW-X has offered me a promotion code of 30-40% off a one time purchase. It was incredibly tempting for me to use this code myself to stock up on bras, but I resisted.
How to enter: Leave a comment below telling me your favorite accessory or piece of clothing to exercise in. Bonus entry: Like CW-X on Facebook and post a comment telling me that you did that.
The giveaway ends on July 1st at Midnight. One winner will be randomly chosen on July 2nd.
Good luck!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
New Goal
So since the PRoNE 5K run, I've been very... lazy. I've been to the gym here and there and gone to a bunch of yoga classes, but really... I've been taking it easy. This past week, I have had a cold, so I haven't exercised since Monday. I also have been working very late hours which hasn't helped.
Well my friend Tim (the one who won the PRoNE 5K) emails me the other day asking if I want to run a "Half-Mary" which apparently is his auto-corrected way of asking me to run a half-marathon. I did a little research (check out http://www.halfmarathons.net/ for half marathons all over the country!) and found one in Jersey City, NJ.
The Newport Liberty Half Marathon
Here is the course map:
I want to do this one because it's in Jersey City. Cameron and I are getting married in Jersey City on October 14, right in Liberty State Park. The hotel we'll be staying at is by Newport and all the weekend events will be along this course route. I get very tied to places (as you can tell by my love of Boston, and my last post professing my love of NYC) and think it would be really cool to do my first half-marathon in the city I will be getting married in just weeks later.
Also, JC is conveniently 2 PATH stops away from us. And this will be a great opportunity for me to get to know the area a little bit before the wedding. If I can run from the hotel to the venue, I should know how to direct a bus or a cab!
So... new goal... to run a half-marathon. This is a serious one. I need to train for it. I emailed Tim, and he will be crafting me a training plan that I need to stick to. To help me stick to that... I'm going to start post my training plan here when he and I make it, and then every week, I'll post what I should be doing and if I did what I was supposed to do the week before.
My plan is to exercise 5x/week - 3 runs, 1 cross training (most likely bike because I'm not a fan of the elliptical), and one class. In addition to this...one of my runs will be... wait for it... A PRE-WORK RUN. I'm a bad sleeper, so I don't want to start getting up super early every day of the week, but I also don't want to give up every single afternoon/evening of my week on those weeks where we go away for the weekend. I'll compromise - I'll get up earlier once a week and run, so then I only have 4 days a week to exercise after work.
Do you think I'll be able to manage wedding planning and half-marathon training this summer? What do you think of the course? How do you stay on track to meet your goals?
Well my friend Tim (the one who won the PRoNE 5K) emails me the other day asking if I want to run a "Half-Mary" which apparently is his auto-corrected way of asking me to run a half-marathon. I did a little research (check out http://www.halfmarathons.net/ for half marathons all over the country!) and found one in Jersey City, NJ.
The Newport Liberty Half Marathon
Here is the course map:
I want to do this one because it's in Jersey City. Cameron and I are getting married in Jersey City on October 14, right in Liberty State Park. The hotel we'll be staying at is by Newport and all the weekend events will be along this course route. I get very tied to places (as you can tell by my love of Boston, and my last post professing my love of NYC) and think it would be really cool to do my first half-marathon in the city I will be getting married in just weeks later.
Also, JC is conveniently 2 PATH stops away from us. And this will be a great opportunity for me to get to know the area a little bit before the wedding. If I can run from the hotel to the venue, I should know how to direct a bus or a cab!
So... new goal... to run a half-marathon. This is a serious one. I need to train for it. I emailed Tim, and he will be crafting me a training plan that I need to stick to. To help me stick to that... I'm going to start post my training plan here when he and I make it, and then every week, I'll post what I should be doing and if I did what I was supposed to do the week before.
My plan is to exercise 5x/week - 3 runs, 1 cross training (most likely bike because I'm not a fan of the elliptical), and one class. In addition to this...one of my runs will be... wait for it... A PRE-WORK RUN. I'm a bad sleeper, so I don't want to start getting up super early every day of the week, but I also don't want to give up every single afternoon/evening of my week on those weeks where we go away for the weekend. I'll compromise - I'll get up earlier once a week and run, so then I only have 4 days a week to exercise after work.
Do you think I'll be able to manage wedding planning and half-marathon training this summer? What do you think of the course? How do you stay on track to meet your goals?
Monday, June 18, 2012
Venturing into the unknown
Remember how I said I would never go into the weight room at my local NYSC? I broke my rule.
Cameron joined the NYSC last month, so I went into the weight room to meet up with him once. That was like dipping my toes into the water, and it was cold water and I didn't like the fact that every single guy in the weight room looked me up and down. Dude, I'm disgusting and sweaty, leave me alone. Also, I'm self-conscious.
So how did I end up using the weight room today?
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I've been very frustrated. I feel like I have one setback after another, and my cardio training has been falling by the wayside. Honestly, I had only been running once since I did my 5K in the beginning of June.
Another potential setback has emerged. Last Tuesday, I had to sprint from work to a doctor's appointment, because like my usual self, I got caught up in something and didn't realize I only had 10 minutes to get 15 blocks. So I sprinted in my flatter than flat flip flops, that, lets be honest, really just protect my feet from getting dirt on them. Since then... I've had pain in my left heel.
The pain is towards the back - it feels like my achilles most of the time, but then sometimes pain radiates from the bottom of my heel. I honestly have no idea what it could be. I googled and found some information about plantar fasciitis, but I'm not entirely sure that's what is wrong. Unfortunately, I really don't want to go back to a doctor... I feel like I've been to doctor's a lot recently between the asthma and sciatica etc. I just don't like going to the doctor.
How does this lead me to the weight room?
I'm still doing my free month at NY Yoga, but I haven't done much in the way of abs/arms or weightlifting related classes recently either. So now here I am, not doing cardio and not getting my wedding ready arms!
Since walking is very uncomfortable, one would assume that running would as well. I decided to try going on the bike for 20 minutes to test out how my heel felt after that. I'm trying to take it easy so I don't want to try any of the cool classes that I have deals for right now, which rules that out for defining my arms.
And then when Cameron mentioned he had to go to the gym today, something struck inside of me. I was itching to do something different and as my options are currently limited by a variety of different pains, maybe Cameron would show me what to do in the weight room!
Also, this way, Cameron is with me, so who will really look at me or judge me then!
Off we went. I did 20 minutes on the bike, which felt okay on my heel during, but now it has seen better days. Then, I met Cameron in the weight room and he showed me how to use a few different machines. I did it! I went into the weight room!
I know I said I never would, but it's because it was always a "fear" of mine to go into the weight room. I don't know what to do in there, I don't like people looking at me, and I don't like being the only girl. So having Cameron there was a little buffer. I kind of enjoyed it, and I also feel like consistency will get results.
For now, I honestly will probably only go in with Cameron. I'm still going to need him to tell me what machines to use (because I don't know what 90% of the machines do). So until I will independently choose my own machines and put together my own workout... hopefully Cameron will come with me.
I'm going to try this 20 minutes of bike + weight lifting for a little while... until my heel gets better and I can run outside again, or until I get antsy and feel like I need to do something different.
Have you had heel issues? What do you think of the weight room? Is there something in the exercise world you have been averse to until you tried it?
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Frustrated
I'm going to warn you, this post is a stream of consciousness and more ranty than I usually like to be.
I've been very frustrated the last couple of weeks when I exercise. Between sciatica, running cramps, clothing issues etc... I've been feeling like every time I exercise, something new bothers me and I hit that wall really early.
I think that's also why I haven't been posting much lately... its not as motivating to post about my 1 mile run where my running cramp was so painful I wanted to puke all over the machine (sorry to give you that mental image).
So what do you do when you hit that wall? How do you recover and push past it?
I'm still trying to figure this out.
I've scaled back my goals for going to the gym. I'm back to, "just spend 30 minutes on a treadmill doing whatever" so that I can at least feel like I've accomplished something. I also am just trying to push myself to keep going and not get discouraged. Shit happens, right?
It's still really off-putting to go to the gym and come back and feel like I did nothing. I may as well have stayed home, but now I'm just sweaty enough to need a shower, but not sweaty enough to feel like I did anything. This middle ground builds up frustration for me.
I've never been the kind of person to be like, "eh, try and fail, its cool." I don't like failing. I really don't. I actually would rather not try. As my friends know, I do not like to try new foods, because I'd rather not try them and learn that it was the most disgusting thing I've ever had. Fortunately sometimes, I try new foods anyway, otherwise I'd still be on my pasta, doritos and breaded chicken diet from when I was 7.
This whole exercise experience has forced me to deal with "failing". I know it's not failing and I know that every day is going to be different, but I feel very frustrated right now while I'm constantly hitting this wall.
I've been running for 9 months now, I can run for about 15 minutes at a 10 min mile pace before I'm exhausted. I can go a little further than that before I'm really done. I'm pretty proud of that because when I first started, I couldn't run down the block without feeling out of breath.
But right now, I run on the treadmill for 6 minutes and my back hurts, or my muscles start cramping, or my sock slips down in my shoe etc etc. It's very frustrating because it feels like a major setback. I worry that not only am I encountering all these issues, I am also losing what I've spent 9 months building up.
I think this is also why I'm so ADD about everything - I hit a wall and need to switch things up. Yes, fitness experts, I realize that this slows my progress because I'm trying to do 100 different activities at once. Instead of getting really good at running, or cycling, or weightlifting, I'm getting slightly better at all of these things. Very slowly.
Which makes issues even more annoying because I make slow and steady progress, but can lose it very quickly when something crop up.
So my resolve for the next couple of weeks is to just keep going to the gym and to just keep working out. I need to just keep pushing through this wall. Everyone has their good days and bad days. I am also using my one month Living Social deal at NY Yoga, so I'm trying to do yoga 1-2 times a week too, which is very restorative. Instead of replacing my runs (which is what I did this week) with yoga, I'm going to add the yoga in and still do the running. I can't hide from my problems and taking a break doesn't make them go away. It would be one thing if I had a strained muscle and I needed to rest, but sciatica is not made worse by exercising, and muscle cramps are going to happen when they happen.
Do you get frustrated about exercising? Have you hit a wall? How do you get past it? What do you do for muscle cramps??
I've been very frustrated the last couple of weeks when I exercise. Between sciatica, running cramps, clothing issues etc... I've been feeling like every time I exercise, something new bothers me and I hit that wall really early.
I think that's also why I haven't been posting much lately... its not as motivating to post about my 1 mile run where my running cramp was so painful I wanted to puke all over the machine (sorry to give you that mental image).
So what do you do when you hit that wall? How do you recover and push past it?
I'm still trying to figure this out.
I've scaled back my goals for going to the gym. I'm back to, "just spend 30 minutes on a treadmill doing whatever" so that I can at least feel like I've accomplished something. I also am just trying to push myself to keep going and not get discouraged. Shit happens, right?
It's still really off-putting to go to the gym and come back and feel like I did nothing. I may as well have stayed home, but now I'm just sweaty enough to need a shower, but not sweaty enough to feel like I did anything. This middle ground builds up frustration for me.
I've never been the kind of person to be like, "eh, try and fail, its cool." I don't like failing. I really don't. I actually would rather not try. As my friends know, I do not like to try new foods, because I'd rather not try them and learn that it was the most disgusting thing I've ever had. Fortunately sometimes, I try new foods anyway, otherwise I'd still be on my pasta, doritos and breaded chicken diet from when I was 7.
This whole exercise experience has forced me to deal with "failing". I know it's not failing and I know that every day is going to be different, but I feel very frustrated right now while I'm constantly hitting this wall.
I've been running for 9 months now, I can run for about 15 minutes at a 10 min mile pace before I'm exhausted. I can go a little further than that before I'm really done. I'm pretty proud of that because when I first started, I couldn't run down the block without feeling out of breath.
But right now, I run on the treadmill for 6 minutes and my back hurts, or my muscles start cramping, or my sock slips down in my shoe etc etc. It's very frustrating because it feels like a major setback. I worry that not only am I encountering all these issues, I am also losing what I've spent 9 months building up.
I think this is also why I'm so ADD about everything - I hit a wall and need to switch things up. Yes, fitness experts, I realize that this slows my progress because I'm trying to do 100 different activities at once. Instead of getting really good at running, or cycling, or weightlifting, I'm getting slightly better at all of these things. Very slowly.
Which makes issues even more annoying because I make slow and steady progress, but can lose it very quickly when something crop up.
So my resolve for the next couple of weeks is to just keep going to the gym and to just keep working out. I need to just keep pushing through this wall. Everyone has their good days and bad days. I am also using my one month Living Social deal at NY Yoga, so I'm trying to do yoga 1-2 times a week too, which is very restorative. Instead of replacing my runs (which is what I did this week) with yoga, I'm going to add the yoga in and still do the running. I can't hide from my problems and taking a break doesn't make them go away. It would be one thing if I had a strained muscle and I needed to rest, but sciatica is not made worse by exercising, and muscle cramps are going to happen when they happen.
Do you get frustrated about exercising? Have you hit a wall? How do you get past it? What do you do for muscle cramps??
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Pugs and Mugs
A few months ago, I decided to look for a 5K to do in Boston, my old home, as my first 5K. I figured that getting to go to Boston would be a good motivator for me since I love it there.
It was a choice between the PRoNE 5K or The Foxboro against Diabetes 5K, which were both this past Saturday, June 2. I discussed with many of my college friends and we decided to do the PRoNE 5K because of its location; Castle Island. The PRoNE 5K donates money to the Pug Rescue of New England, which helps rescue and support pugs in New England (if you can't figure that out from the title of the organization).
It worked out great because the American Craft Beer Festival was also on June 2nd. Cameron and I went to that 2 years ago with some friends and we all had a great time. We were all very excited to spend the day together, running a 5K and then at the Beer Festival. The name "Pugs and Mugs" was born during a conversation about getting tee-shirts made for the weekend.
Anyway, back to the 5K. June 2 seems like a great day for a 5K, right? Especially in Boston where it cools down nicely. Last time we went to the Beer Festival, I wore a strapless sundress and we spent all day outside beforehand. So obviously, this time would be exactly the same... right?!
As you can see... Rain/Thunder = strapless sundress. Crap. My OCD self had picked out my Brooks Running shorts and my Sweat Pink tank top to run in. I threw a pair of capris in my bag and figured I'd be fine in capris and the tank top - I run in tank tops as long as it is above 55/60.
Before the Race:
We all wake up on Saturday morning at 6:45 and its POURING rain. Not only that, it's also like 53 degrees. So Wendi, our very amazing hostess, gets out sweatshirts for all of us, including extra ones for after the race and we all get ready and head out. We got to the event at 7:50ish, registered and got back in the car to wait. It was freezing. I committed to wearing Wendi's sweatshirt over my tanktop, which was a challenge itself because I'm very particular about what I work out in.
At 8:45, we climbed out of the cars and got ready for the race. We took a couple pre-race pictures, but I look so horrifying, those will hopefully be deleted from Wendi's phone shortly. I put my arm band under the sweatshirt to keep my phone dry and set up my music. We all lined up - my ex-roommate, Tim (ok, half of the people I ran with are ex-roommates, but he is the most recent one), started at the front and the rest of us gathered in the middle.
The Race:
At 9:05 we were off. It was steadily raining and I had to dodge many people at the beginning. Note to anyone who participates in Run/Walks... try to position yourself appropriately. I think I was positioned appropriately, but I had to run around people who were walking with 4-5 people in a row taking up the entire sidewalk.
About 7-8 minutes into the run, I was feeling pretty good and I hit a head wind. The wind was literally pounding against me and I was just pushing through it. I hit mile 1 running and was proud I'd made that with this wind against me. If you look at the map, you can see that there is a little addition to the route outside of the circle to make it a 5K. I ran down that and back up and then walked for about a minute, at which point one of my friends caught up to me and we talked about the ridiculous headwind.
We thought that was ridiculous... oh wait... it gets WORSE.
Between the mile 1 and mile 2 markers, the wind was brutal. There was a causeway where the wind was completely against us BUT the rain, which was very hard, was coming directly from the right. There were puddles (more like lakes) all over the route and my feet were soaking wet. It literally felt like I was running through the Perfect Storm. Except George Clooney was not there and it seemed like I would never make it to the mile 2 marker.
I ran the entire time over the cause way, although running might not be the most accurate word. I did not walk. I really wanted to, but I was trying to hard not to. At one point, "I'm Not Afraid" by Eminem came on my music, which revived me. I particularly like the lyric, "We'll walk this route together through the storm, whatever weather, cold or warm, just letting you know that you're not alone" as it made me think of all my friends running this with me and where they were at this point. I pushed through and made it over the causeway.
I had been planning on walking after that, but I finally found the mile 2 marker and decided to keep running. At this point, I'd probably been running for about 26 minutes. Shortly after the mile 2 marker was the race photographer. I remembered reading on someone else's blog to smile at the finish line so your picture is good, so I smiled the whole way to the race photographer.
Pretty good picture right?? You can see the causeway from hell directly behind me.
Not too soon after this picture was taken, a tail wind appeared! Suddenly I was being pushed along, but because I was only 2.something miles into the race, I didn't want to expend all my energy and tried to run conservatively. The rain had lightened up and there was a really cool military fort on one side of us.
I kept running and "Edge of Glory" came on. As many people know, I strongly dislike Gaga, but I really love this song for some reason, and it's a great song to run to.
About a minute into "Edge of Glory", I turned a corner and could see all the tents and the finish line! But I'd just passed mile 2! How did I get to the end so quickly?? I passed the mile 3 marker and sped up to the finish line.
The official results:
I finished in 33:37.1. I had been hoping to break 30 minutes before the race started, but honestly, between the sciatica and the weather, I was just happy that it wasn't more than a minute above my best practice run (which was during ideal conditions).
I DID IT! I finished my first 5K!
After the Race
Once we all finished, Tim had to collect his prize... because... oh wait... I forgot to mention... Tim WON! This is why he went to the front of the pack in the beginning. He ran it in 18:08. He got a heart rate monitor, which is cool. We were all hoping for a pug, but nope.
There was lots of free baked goods - we took some brownies and bananas and headed out. It's a shame we didn't stay for the rest of the race, but the weather was miserable. All of us were drenched. Completely soaking wet. One of my friends had to wring her sweater out. I wanted to make sure to get a picture of myself in my SweatPink shirt with my race number, so I forced Wendi to take one while we were all dripping in the car.
We all showered and changed and then threw a load of our wet, gross clothes into the washing machine. Thank goodness Wendi has a free washer/dryer! To reward ourselves, we went to my favorite mall, the Natick Collection and shopped for a little bit. I actually didn't buy anything, but I love the Natick Collection and was just happy to pay it a visit.
At 4:00, a bunch of us headed to the American Craft Beer Festival to wait in line. We wanted to sit under cover and wait for the 6:00 start. We had a great time at the Beer Festival - you get to try lots of different beers and we all just hung out for a very long time. It was a very nice way to conclude the day and we had a very fun filled day! Sorry, no pictures of the Beer Festival - with the rain, my hair was super frizzy and I didn't wear makeup.
Thoughts on the Race
When we got back to Wendi's, Cameron looked up to see if the mile markers were accurate. We found that they weren't - the mile 2 marker was at least 1/3 of a mile too far. That made sense because I was most frustrated during "mile 2". Besides the giant storm over the causeway, I also thought I was running the slowest mile I've run in months, which really frustrated me. I also was trying to conserve energy and actually pace myself because I thought that I was not even halfway through it.
I am very proud of all of my friends, because we all got up on our Saturday together and ran in the cold pouring rain and wind.
I want to work on finding a GPS for my phone that is more accurate than the ones I currently have. My phone has perpetual problems finding signals, so a lot of times, I run and when I stop the timer, its like, "You have run 0.0 miles! You burned 0 calories!" Annoying! However, if I'd had the GPS working, it could have told me that I had gotten to mile 2 and my attitude might have been different.
I'll run another race and I loved going with everyone. Mt. Washington was Summer 2011, PRoNE 5K was Summer 2012. What does everyone want to do Summer 2013?!
Last note, we all put the pink SweatPink shoelaces in our shoes to run together. It was GREAT! It was so easy to find each other because we looked out for the shoelaces. Love them!
Have you run a race in brutal weather? Has it effected your time? What should my friends and I try in the Summer of 2013?
It was a choice between the PRoNE 5K or The Foxboro against Diabetes 5K, which were both this past Saturday, June 2. I discussed with many of my college friends and we decided to do the PRoNE 5K because of its location; Castle Island. The PRoNE 5K donates money to the Pug Rescue of New England, which helps rescue and support pugs in New England (if you can't figure that out from the title of the organization).
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| Race Map |
Anyway, back to the 5K. June 2 seems like a great day for a 5K, right? Especially in Boston where it cools down nicely. Last time we went to the Beer Festival, I wore a strapless sundress and we spent all day outside beforehand. So obviously, this time would be exactly the same... right?!
WRONG!
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Before the Race:
We all wake up on Saturday morning at 6:45 and its POURING rain. Not only that, it's also like 53 degrees. So Wendi, our very amazing hostess, gets out sweatshirts for all of us, including extra ones for after the race and we all get ready and head out. We got to the event at 7:50ish, registered and got back in the car to wait. It was freezing. I committed to wearing Wendi's sweatshirt over my tanktop, which was a challenge itself because I'm very particular about what I work out in.
At 8:45, we climbed out of the cars and got ready for the race. We took a couple pre-race pictures, but I look so horrifying, those will hopefully be deleted from Wendi's phone shortly. I put my arm band under the sweatshirt to keep my phone dry and set up my music. We all lined up - my ex-roommate, Tim (ok, half of the people I ran with are ex-roommates, but he is the most recent one), started at the front and the rest of us gathered in the middle.
The Race:
At 9:05 we were off. It was steadily raining and I had to dodge many people at the beginning. Note to anyone who participates in Run/Walks... try to position yourself appropriately. I think I was positioned appropriately, but I had to run around people who were walking with 4-5 people in a row taking up the entire sidewalk.
About 7-8 minutes into the run, I was feeling pretty good and I hit a head wind. The wind was literally pounding against me and I was just pushing through it. I hit mile 1 running and was proud I'd made that with this wind against me. If you look at the map, you can see that there is a little addition to the route outside of the circle to make it a 5K. I ran down that and back up and then walked for about a minute, at which point one of my friends caught up to me and we talked about the ridiculous headwind.
We thought that was ridiculous... oh wait... it gets WORSE.
Between the mile 1 and mile 2 markers, the wind was brutal. There was a causeway where the wind was completely against us BUT the rain, which was very hard, was coming directly from the right. There were puddles (more like lakes) all over the route and my feet were soaking wet. It literally felt like I was running through the Perfect Storm. Except George Clooney was not there and it seemed like I would never make it to the mile 2 marker.
I ran the entire time over the cause way, although running might not be the most accurate word. I did not walk. I really wanted to, but I was trying to hard not to. At one point, "I'm Not Afraid" by Eminem came on my music, which revived me. I particularly like the lyric, "We'll walk this route together through the storm, whatever weather, cold or warm, just letting you know that you're not alone" as it made me think of all my friends running this with me and where they were at this point. I pushed through and made it over the causeway.
I had been planning on walking after that, but I finally found the mile 2 marker and decided to keep running. At this point, I'd probably been running for about 26 minutes. Shortly after the mile 2 marker was the race photographer. I remembered reading on someone else's blog to smile at the finish line so your picture is good, so I smiled the whole way to the race photographer.Pretty good picture right?? You can see the causeway from hell directly behind me.
Not too soon after this picture was taken, a tail wind appeared! Suddenly I was being pushed along, but because I was only 2.something miles into the race, I didn't want to expend all my energy and tried to run conservatively. The rain had lightened up and there was a really cool military fort on one side of us.
I kept running and "Edge of Glory" came on. As many people know, I strongly dislike Gaga, but I really love this song for some reason, and it's a great song to run to.
About a minute into "Edge of Glory", I turned a corner and could see all the tents and the finish line! But I'd just passed mile 2! How did I get to the end so quickly?? I passed the mile 3 marker and sped up to the finish line.
The official results:
I finished in 33:37.1. I had been hoping to break 30 minutes before the race started, but honestly, between the sciatica and the weather, I was just happy that it wasn't more than a minute above my best practice run (which was during ideal conditions).
I DID IT! I finished my first 5K!
After the Race
Once we all finished, Tim had to collect his prize... because... oh wait... I forgot to mention... Tim WON! This is why he went to the front of the pack in the beginning. He ran it in 18:08. He got a heart rate monitor, which is cool. We were all hoping for a pug, but nope.
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| Tim: the winner!! |
There was lots of free baked goods - we took some brownies and bananas and headed out. It's a shame we didn't stay for the rest of the race, but the weather was miserable. All of us were drenched. Completely soaking wet. One of my friends had to wring her sweater out. I wanted to make sure to get a picture of myself in my SweatPink shirt with my race number, so I forced Wendi to take one while we were all dripping in the car.
We all showered and changed and then threw a load of our wet, gross clothes into the washing machine. Thank goodness Wendi has a free washer/dryer! To reward ourselves, we went to my favorite mall, the Natick Collection and shopped for a little bit. I actually didn't buy anything, but I love the Natick Collection and was just happy to pay it a visit.
At 4:00, a bunch of us headed to the American Craft Beer Festival to wait in line. We wanted to sit under cover and wait for the 6:00 start. We had a great time at the Beer Festival - you get to try lots of different beers and we all just hung out for a very long time. It was a very nice way to conclude the day and we had a very fun filled day! Sorry, no pictures of the Beer Festival - with the rain, my hair was super frizzy and I didn't wear makeup.
Thoughts on the Race
When we got back to Wendi's, Cameron looked up to see if the mile markers were accurate. We found that they weren't - the mile 2 marker was at least 1/3 of a mile too far. That made sense because I was most frustrated during "mile 2". Besides the giant storm over the causeway, I also thought I was running the slowest mile I've run in months, which really frustrated me. I also was trying to conserve energy and actually pace myself because I thought that I was not even halfway through it.
I am very proud of all of my friends, because we all got up on our Saturday together and ran in the cold pouring rain and wind.
I want to work on finding a GPS for my phone that is more accurate than the ones I currently have. My phone has perpetual problems finding signals, so a lot of times, I run and when I stop the timer, its like, "You have run 0.0 miles! You burned 0 calories!" Annoying! However, if I'd had the GPS working, it could have told me that I had gotten to mile 2 and my attitude might have been different.
I'll run another race and I loved going with everyone. Mt. Washington was Summer 2011, PRoNE 5K was Summer 2012. What does everyone want to do Summer 2013?!
Last note, we all put the pink SweatPink shoelaces in our shoes to run together. It was GREAT! It was so easy to find each other because we looked out for the shoelaces. Love them!
Have you run a race in brutal weather? Has it effected your time? What should my friends and I try in the Summer of 2013?
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Seattle!
Over Memorial Day weekend, I went to Seattle for a work-related conference. It was very exciting as it was the first time I was presenting a poster of my own research. I also have never been to Seattle and I've heard it's great.
On Thursday afternoon, my two co-workers and I get to Newark airport and we're faced with a few hours of delays. We ate SmashBurger, which we would not recommend, and then hung out near the gate. While we were sitting around waiting, it suddenly occurred to me, "I didn't pack my running capris". Since I carry a duffle bag, it's pretty easy to go through, and I rummaged through and definitely did not see my running capris. But I'm wearing my sneakers, which means I had to bring an extra pair of shoes... for nothing?? Oh no.
While the three of us had been planning on going for a run early on Friday morning, I had no pants to run in, and as I mentioned earlier, I can't go pantsless. Fortunately, the hotels in Seattle are mostly downtown right in the heart of the shopping area, so I decided to head out at 10am to buy a pair of running capris.
After discovering that NikeTown is a "premier" store and does not put anything on clearance or sale, I went to The Gap... my favorite store. They were having a nice sale and I picked up a pair of sweet capris for 30% off. I wanted to buy a pair of shorts that were also 30% off, but I resisted because I really just don't need them right now. Yay self control!
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| The gap capris I bought - only needed for the weekend, but a nice addition to my wardrobe! |
On Friday, I ran a couple of miles on the treadmill, which went very well given my back, and then did some ab work. Nothing crazy. Then we went to lunch and walked around Pike's Place Market for like 4 hours. Pike's Place Market might be my new favorite place in the world. There is fresh fruit everywhere, gorgeous flowers, and TONS of free samples. Everyone is giving out samples of everything. You can try whatever you like. We ate our way through Seattle and loved it. It was a great way to experience the city and it also made me feel like Seattle was so fresh and healthy.
On Saturday, I decided I wanted to run a 5K in Seattle to the Space Needle. The three of us set out, and I was able to keep up with them for about 1.75 miles. My right leg started to feel a little odd, so I stopped running and immediately went back to normal. I kept running and then settled that when I turned onto Broad Street to go to from the sound to the Space Needle, I would walk for 30 seconds.
Well... Broad Street is a massive hill. I turned and was just blown away by how steep this hill was between me and the Space Needle. I basically resolved to make it up to the Space Needle however I could.
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| Map of my run - the turn to the 3 mile mark is where it goes all UPHILL |
I made it to the Space Needle in 31.30 - it was 3.10 miles, so its my usual pace. I was still impressed given the giant hill. Generally, I try to be positive about my runs... a year ago, I couldn't run for more than 2-3 minutes without feeling like I was uncomfortable. The fact that I could keep up with my co-workers (who are both experienced runners) for almost 2 miles was good enough for me. I really just have to keep it in perspective - I have made amazing progress.
The Space Needle was awesome. I didn't go up it, but it was cool to go to it and know I RAN there. I actually think there is something more rewarding about making it somewhere on your feet. While all those other people were driving cars up Mt. Washington, we were climbing it. It's the same as running to the Space Needle. There is a monorail from the hotel to the Space Needle, but I did it on my feet.
Of course, after I ran the 5K, I then had to get back to the hotel. I had no desire to keep running, so I leisurely strolled through Seattle down 5th Ave. Seattle is very up and coming... there are a lot of brand new apartment buildings and its very clean.
While I was walking down 5th Ave, I found a donut place - Top Pot Doughnuts, that my co-worker had wanted to go to. I decided to go and buy 5 donuts. 5. What the hell was I thinking?? 5 donuts!! Well they were all delicious, but we never finished all of them before we had to go back, whoops.
The rest of Saturday and most of Sunday was spent at the conference learning lots of professional development things. Monday morning we flew back from Seattle on a plane that was likely older than I am. The wallpaper in the bathroom was very... 80's-tacular and there was a nice little CRT TV mounted to the ceiling like old times. Also, the seats were TINY!
All in all, it was a fantastic trip!
Do you run/exercise when you go on vacation? Have you been to Seattle? How do you keep perspective?
The Space Needle was awesome. I didn't go up it, but it was cool to go to it and know I RAN there. I actually think there is something more rewarding about making it somewhere on your feet. While all those other people were driving cars up Mt. Washington, we were climbing it. It's the same as running to the Space Needle. There is a monorail from the hotel to the Space Needle, but I did it on my feet.
Of course, after I ran the 5K, I then had to get back to the hotel. I had no desire to keep running, so I leisurely strolled through Seattle down 5th Ave. Seattle is very up and coming... there are a lot of brand new apartment buildings and its very clean.
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| Me at the Space Needle. The woman who took the picture wasn't sure how to use a smart phone camera... |
While I was walking down 5th Ave, I found a donut place - Top Pot Doughnuts, that my co-worker had wanted to go to. I decided to go and buy 5 donuts. 5. What the hell was I thinking?? 5 donuts!! Well they were all delicious, but we never finished all of them before we had to go back, whoops.
The rest of Saturday and most of Sunday was spent at the conference learning lots of professional development things. Monday morning we flew back from Seattle on a plane that was likely older than I am. The wallpaper in the bathroom was very... 80's-tacular and there was a nice little CRT TV mounted to the ceiling like old times. Also, the seats were TINY!
All in all, it was a fantastic trip!
Do you run/exercise when you go on vacation? Have you been to Seattle? How do you keep perspective?
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Sciatica
About a month ago (give or take), I started noticing that my right leg would go numb pretty easily. If I crouched down for a few minutes or slept funny, my leg would fall asleep within a few minutes. My limbs have always fallen asleep relatively easily, but I did notice this was happening a lot more. And occasionally, my right lower back/butt would twinge, but the pain would go away within a couple of hours or with a couple of Advil.
On Sunday, after I spent a day in the park with one of my friends, I noticed that my lower back was hurting again and felt particularly bad. My leg kept falling asleep and my back was super stiff and uncomfortable. I took a couple of advil. Not really helpful.
On Monday, I woke up and it still hurt. I seriously debated going into work, which is rare for me. I wake up every day and think, "wouldn't it be nice to relax and stay in bed?" but then I get up and get ready. As much as I love being at home, I hate knowing I'm missing things at work. I feel like a day off, particularly an unplanned one, is not worth it because I spend the next 4 trying to catch up on what I missed. At least when I plan days off, I can prepare before I'm out.
I decided to go to work because I wasn't going to get any better just sitting on my couch. I figured I'd go to work, call the doctor and then leave when I got a doctor's appointment. At least this way, I only missed part of the day. I also hate missing work because I don't like using sick days. I have the potential to be a hoarder, and I like to hoard sick days.
Unfortunately, my doctor was unavailable and I couldn't get an appointment until Tuesday morning. On Tuesday, I woke up (45 minutes later than usual! Which was glorious!) went to the doctor and found out what I was pretty sure I already knew.
I have sciatica.
Sciatica is actually a symptom of an underlying condition - in this case, the doctor thinks I probably have a herniated disc. Ouch. Sounds painful. Essentially, my sciatic nerve is being compressed by something which causes pain and then the subsequent numbness/tingling.
The herniated disc should resolve itself eventually, which will relieve the sciatica and make it all better. Until then, I am supposed to go to physical therapy, do stretches... and listen to the physical therapist.
BUT! research says that there is no difference between using NSAIDS vs. physical therapy vs. doing nothing. So why should I do physical therapy if it doesn't improve my recovery? I would love some thoughts on this as I'm not sure how to proceed from here!
I basically have to listen to my body. If something hurts, try not to do it. Of course, putting my pants on is uncomfortable, but I can't walk around pantless, so I just have to deal. I think it is okay for me to continue exercising, but we'll see.
Have you had sciatica? Have you experienced lower back pain?
On Monday, I woke up and it still hurt. I seriously debated going into work, which is rare for me. I wake up every day and think, "wouldn't it be nice to relax and stay in bed?" but then I get up and get ready. As much as I love being at home, I hate knowing I'm missing things at work. I feel like a day off, particularly an unplanned one, is not worth it because I spend the next 4 trying to catch up on what I missed. At least when I plan days off, I can prepare before I'm out.
I decided to go to work because I wasn't going to get any better just sitting on my couch. I figured I'd go to work, call the doctor and then leave when I got a doctor's appointment. At least this way, I only missed part of the day. I also hate missing work because I don't like using sick days. I have the potential to be a hoarder, and I like to hoard sick days.
Unfortunately, my doctor was unavailable and I couldn't get an appointment until Tuesday morning. On Tuesday, I woke up (45 minutes later than usual! Which was glorious!) went to the doctor and found out what I was pretty sure I already knew.
I have sciatica.
Sciatica is actually a symptom of an underlying condition - in this case, the doctor thinks I probably have a herniated disc. Ouch. Sounds painful. Essentially, my sciatic nerve is being compressed by something which causes pain and then the subsequent numbness/tingling.
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| An image of sciatica/what it affects |
BUT! research says that there is no difference between using NSAIDS vs. physical therapy vs. doing nothing. So why should I do physical therapy if it doesn't improve my recovery? I would love some thoughts on this as I'm not sure how to proceed from here!
I basically have to listen to my body. If something hurts, try not to do it. Of course, putting my pants on is uncomfortable, but I can't walk around pantless, so I just have to deal. I think it is okay for me to continue exercising, but we'll see.
Have you had sciatica? Have you experienced lower back pain?
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Urban Girl Squad Run
Just a quick reminder that there are less than 12 hours left until my giveaway closes!! Comment on that post and tell me your motivation/goals for a chance to win HOT PINK shoelaces!
Now to the actual topic...
Urban Girl Squad does a lot of cool events, some of them cost money and some of them are free. They do an outdoor running series in Central Park which started up today. Every other Sunday from now through the fall, Urban Girl Squad will be sponsoring group runs from Athleta stores in NYC. After the runs, there is a quick stretching class, some refreshments and a workshop of some kind.
So my friend and I signed up and went to the UES Athleta store. There were a ton of women there! I was very impressed by the turnout.
The start of the event was very well organized. They had 3 people checking us in and gave out rubber bracelets to indicate you were part of the running group. There were dressing rooms in the back which were designated as bag checks, and the store has a restroom (which is definitely a perk if you need to go before you run!) About 15 minutes after we got there, Rachel, the event leader, explained the run and we all headed over to Central Park.
The whole group was divided into three smaller groups; advanced runners, intermediate runners and beginner runners.
Advanced = approximately 7 min mile
Intermediate = approximately 9 min mile
Beginner = approximately 10 min mile OR there was another walk/jog group as well.
We elected to go for the beginner/10 min mile group. The beginner group was still pretty large, but literally as soon as we started running, the whole group dispersed really quickly and it was just me and my friend running together. She is also a newer runner, and neither of us have run with another person before. We enjoyed it (OK, I did, I guess I shouldn't speak for her!) We were able to have a conversation mostly (although there were definitely some awkward breathing pauses) and it was good to have someone else who can monitor the pace and keep me from speeding up too much. We ran around the reservoir 2 times, which is a 5K. Unfortunately, my cardio trainer on my phone did not work and we have no idea how long it took us. I would say I ran slower than I normally do, but we also did not walk as much as I have in the past either.
We did a quick stretch, and then headed back to the Athleta store. There were complimentary drinks from Honeydrop as well as teeeeeny tiny Luna bars in my favorite flavors. We also got gift bags for being part of the very first one of the season. My gift bag contained 2 hair ties, a blueberry bliss Luna Bar (which I've never had before), an Athleta catalog and a water bottle (as seen below). My friend's bag the same things, except instead of a water bottle, she had a hat from Athleta.
The workshop after was about nutrition, but by the time we got back to the store, there were too many people surrounding the nutritionist for us to even hear what she was saying. I think this was the only disappointing part of the event - we wanted to learn more, but we couldnt hear everything that was going on. My guess is that the number of people running will thin out over time and we'll be able to get more out of the workshops as time goes on.
All in all, I enjoyed the event. We are planning to go back every other Sunday as long as we're available. I would love to see some more familiar faces at these runs too! I always thought I didn't want to run with another person, but it turned out to be pretty enjoyable and made the run feel like it was much quicker. Also, my friend is a lot better at maintaining the pace, so when I'd speed up, I'd realize I have to slow down to stay with her.
I haven't planned out the rest of my week's workouts yet. I have 2 more Core classes, a week at Clay Fitness to try and a month at NY yoga still! I need to get started on some of these things before they expire. I'm hoping to get in at least 3 workouts this week including at least 1 run from work to home, since I have not done that in almost a month.
Do you prefer to run alone or with other people? Have you tried any running groups in your area? What do you think of the snazzy new water bottle?
Now to the actual topic...
Urban Girl Squad does a lot of cool events, some of them cost money and some of them are free. They do an outdoor running series in Central Park which started up today. Every other Sunday from now through the fall, Urban Girl Squad will be sponsoring group runs from Athleta stores in NYC. After the runs, there is a quick stretching class, some refreshments and a workshop of some kind.
So my friend and I signed up and went to the UES Athleta store. There were a ton of women there! I was very impressed by the turnout.
The start of the event was very well organized. They had 3 people checking us in and gave out rubber bracelets to indicate you were part of the running group. There were dressing rooms in the back which were designated as bag checks, and the store has a restroom (which is definitely a perk if you need to go before you run!) About 15 minutes after we got there, Rachel, the event leader, explained the run and we all headed over to Central Park.
The whole group was divided into three smaller groups; advanced runners, intermediate runners and beginner runners.
Advanced = approximately 7 min mile
Intermediate = approximately 9 min mile
Beginner = approximately 10 min mile OR there was another walk/jog group as well.
We elected to go for the beginner/10 min mile group. The beginner group was still pretty large, but literally as soon as we started running, the whole group dispersed really quickly and it was just me and my friend running together. She is also a newer runner, and neither of us have run with another person before. We enjoyed it (OK, I did, I guess I shouldn't speak for her!) We were able to have a conversation mostly (although there were definitely some awkward breathing pauses) and it was good to have someone else who can monitor the pace and keep me from speeding up too much. We ran around the reservoir 2 times, which is a 5K. Unfortunately, my cardio trainer on my phone did not work and we have no idea how long it took us. I would say I ran slower than I normally do, but we also did not walk as much as I have in the past either.
We did a quick stretch, and then headed back to the Athleta store. There were complimentary drinks from Honeydrop as well as teeeeeny tiny Luna bars in my favorite flavors. We also got gift bags for being part of the very first one of the season. My gift bag contained 2 hair ties, a blueberry bliss Luna Bar (which I've never had before), an Athleta catalog and a water bottle (as seen below). My friend's bag the same things, except instead of a water bottle, she had a hat from Athleta.
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| Amphipod waterbottle - it is designed so you do not have to actively grip the waterbottle. The strap also has a great pocket that would fit keys, gel, a small MP3 player or other small items. It's nice when you wear clothes without pockets! |
The workshop after was about nutrition, but by the time we got back to the store, there were too many people surrounding the nutritionist for us to even hear what she was saying. I think this was the only disappointing part of the event - we wanted to learn more, but we couldnt hear everything that was going on. My guess is that the number of people running will thin out over time and we'll be able to get more out of the workshops as time goes on.
All in all, I enjoyed the event. We are planning to go back every other Sunday as long as we're available. I would love to see some more familiar faces at these runs too! I always thought I didn't want to run with another person, but it turned out to be pretty enjoyable and made the run feel like it was much quicker. Also, my friend is a lot better at maintaining the pace, so when I'd speed up, I'd realize I have to slow down to stay with her.
I haven't planned out the rest of my week's workouts yet. I have 2 more Core classes, a week at Clay Fitness to try and a month at NY yoga still! I need to get started on some of these things before they expire. I'm hoping to get in at least 3 workouts this week including at least 1 run from work to home, since I have not done that in almost a month.
Do you prefer to run alone or with other people? Have you tried any running groups in your area? What do you think of the snazzy new water bottle?
Sunday, April 29, 2012
The Amazing Race
Yesterday, I really did not feel like going for a run. Our apartment was cold, it was even colder outside, and I just wanted to stay curled up in my bed watching crappy TV. We have a friend who is visiting this weekend, and he needed to go to J & R to get his fiancee a converter cable so she can defend her doctoral thesis on Monday (good luck! You'll do great!!)
Obviously, I wasn't going to stay in bed for the entire day with a friend visiting, so we decided to race to J & R and see who gets there first. I would run and he would take the subway.
If it's a 1.85 mile run and I run a mile in approximately 10 minutes, I should get there within 18 minutes. So this race should be close! We headed out and went our separate ways. I felt pretty determined to win.
The run started out really nice. Hudson Street is really nice to run on - there aren't a ton of people or a ton of cars but there is still movement and its very pretty. When I got to Canal Street... I probably lost about 2 minutes. Note to self (and to others): Never run near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. To cross the street and turn east, I had to first cross to the west, then cross south, then cross back east across two separate lights and then finally go south again. It was a mess. Then, I stumbled into the Tribeca Film Festival where there were 4-5 tour buses and lots of people. After that, for a little bit, it was a very nice run through SoHo. I actually ran within a block of the Kettlebell Kickboxing studio. Once I hit the financial district, it was all tourists, which means people who stop, look at maps, take pictures of random things and turn around abruptly.
I got to J & R in 21 minutes... so not a 10 minute mile, but I wonder how I would have done if I didn't have those obstacles (i.e. planned my route better!) The plus side is that if I was moving, I was running... I just had to stop at lights or would get stuck behind slow groups of people occasionally.
Do you think I won??? Unfortunately, no. My friend got there about 8-10 minutes before I did. Apparently, he just walked right on a train at the subway station, the actual train ride was only 5 minutes, and the subway stop was a stone's throw from J & R. I think Google maps map have overestimated the total travel time a little bit.
It's really nice to run through the city even if I get frustrated that my times are not as good. It makes me feel like I'm getting to know my city better and really enjoying it. I love running along the river, but I also really love running past new stores or restaurants and just being IN the city. Also, I run more because I have to stop at lights, so I want to make up time by running.
In other fitness-related news, one of my friends sent me a link to a new website called Go Recess. Go Recess is a website that allows you to make reservations for exercise classes at boutique studios anywhere. I looked around at the NYC classes and have found a ton of new places to try classes out. They even separate it into several categories: yoga, cardio, pilates and barre, strength, boot camp, dance, pre/post natal, martial arts. It's a really user friendly website and makes things a lot easier for people like me who are looking for lots of variety. I'm excited and hope its successful!
Where do you like to run? How do you get motivated to run?
Obviously, I wasn't going to stay in bed for the entire day with a friend visiting, so we decided to race to J & R and see who gets there first. I would run and he would take the subway.
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| My route -1.85 miles through NYC |
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| Subway directions - total travel time = 16 minutes |
If it's a 1.85 mile run and I run a mile in approximately 10 minutes, I should get there within 18 minutes. So this race should be close! We headed out and went our separate ways. I felt pretty determined to win.
The run started out really nice. Hudson Street is really nice to run on - there aren't a ton of people or a ton of cars but there is still movement and its very pretty. When I got to Canal Street... I probably lost about 2 minutes. Note to self (and to others): Never run near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. To cross the street and turn east, I had to first cross to the west, then cross south, then cross back east across two separate lights and then finally go south again. It was a mess. Then, I stumbled into the Tribeca Film Festival where there were 4-5 tour buses and lots of people. After that, for a little bit, it was a very nice run through SoHo. I actually ran within a block of the Kettlebell Kickboxing studio. Once I hit the financial district, it was all tourists, which means people who stop, look at maps, take pictures of random things and turn around abruptly.
I got to J & R in 21 minutes... so not a 10 minute mile, but I wonder how I would have done if I didn't have those obstacles (i.e. planned my route better!) The plus side is that if I was moving, I was running... I just had to stop at lights or would get stuck behind slow groups of people occasionally.
Do you think I won??? Unfortunately, no. My friend got there about 8-10 minutes before I did. Apparently, he just walked right on a train at the subway station, the actual train ride was only 5 minutes, and the subway stop was a stone's throw from J & R. I think Google maps map have overestimated the total travel time a little bit.
It's really nice to run through the city even if I get frustrated that my times are not as good. It makes me feel like I'm getting to know my city better and really enjoying it. I love running along the river, but I also really love running past new stores or restaurants and just being IN the city. Also, I run more because I have to stop at lights, so I want to make up time by running.
In other fitness-related news, one of my friends sent me a link to a new website called Go Recess. Go Recess is a website that allows you to make reservations for exercise classes at boutique studios anywhere. I looked around at the NYC classes and have found a ton of new places to try classes out. They even separate it into several categories: yoga, cardio, pilates and barre, strength, boot camp, dance, pre/post natal, martial arts. It's a really user friendly website and makes things a lot easier for people like me who are looking for lots of variety. I'm excited and hope its successful!
Where do you like to run? How do you get motivated to run?
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Full Friday (including Crunch! Hot Pilates)
Yesterday was a big day for me exercise wise. I was at my parent's house in NJ overnight on Thursday night, so I decided to run a 5K in the neighborhood I grew up in.
I grew up on the top of a mountain, so planning a 5K route that doesn't involve going down the mountain is very challenging Going to the bottom is one thing... but then I'd have to get back to the top somehow, and I'm not really ready for that.
After I figured out my route, trying to avoid running up too many hills, off I went at 10:00am on Friday morning. About 10 minutes into the run, I turn a corner and see a BIG hill. Crap. I thought that was going to be downhill, not uphill. OK, fine, so I'll run up this hill and then walk at the top. So I did just that.
Fast forward through the rest of the run (that isn't that interesting) - I ran it in 32.30. Which is not an improvement on my baseline time, BUT I did have to go up and down several hills (albeit small hills) and I'm not used to running at an incline. Not that that is an excuse, but I'm happy that I didn't lose more time than that with the hills.
Also, during my run, I ran past a woman with a stroller who said "Wow! you're running so fast!" I was running out of steam at that point, so it was a nice little pick me up. Thanks, random woman.
After the run, Cameron and I headed back to NYC. We ran some errands and then I went to my last Crunch class for the week. Hot Pilates.
I did not like it. I didn't really get it to be honest. I barely broke a sweat, despite being in a heated room. Today I don't feel like I got a work out. It was a very slow moving class and we just didn't do very much. We would do 5 minutes of some exercise, then "shake it out" and go into Child's Pose. I'm so used to my Hot Power Yoga classes where Child's Pose is "always available" but only offered a few times a class. Not after every single thing you do! I was trying to keep my core activated the whole time, but there were some movements where you didn't need to, which honestly I think defeats the purpose. I could sit on my couch and clench my abs for free.
I've never taken another Pilates class, so I don't have another one to compare it to, so I'll leave an open mind about Pilates until I've had more experience. However, I was excited to start with a Hot Pilates class because I was looking forward to the challenge, so I'm disappointed that this class was much less than a challenge. No summary of pros and cons for this class because I would not recommend it at all.
So my week at Crunch is finished, and I have to say, overall, it was not so good. I wish I'd been able to go to some of the other classes, like the Body Web TRX class, but I think the fact that it was so difficult to get into didn't encourage me to keep trying. Crunch is $89/month when you pay month-to-month, and I think more if you pay the year in full (the total came out to $1,234 for the year, which is $123/month), which doesn't make sense to me. Thats $10 more/month than my gym, and I have to walk 20+ minutes to get there. I think it might be worth it if the classes were more accessible and provided a more intense workout, but it seems that there is a lot more smoke and mirrors than anything else at Crunch, Union Square.
Have you ever felt disappointed by an exercise class you signed up for? Do you prefer Yoga or Pilates?
I grew up on the top of a mountain, so planning a 5K route that doesn't involve going down the mountain is very challenging Going to the bottom is one thing... but then I'd have to get back to the top somehow, and I'm not really ready for that.
After I figured out my route, trying to avoid running up too many hills, off I went at 10:00am on Friday morning. About 10 minutes into the run, I turn a corner and see a BIG hill. Crap. I thought that was going to be downhill, not uphill. OK, fine, so I'll run up this hill and then walk at the top. So I did just that.
Fast forward through the rest of the run (that isn't that interesting) - I ran it in 32.30. Which is not an improvement on my baseline time, BUT I did have to go up and down several hills (albeit small hills) and I'm not used to running at an incline. Not that that is an excuse, but I'm happy that I didn't lose more time than that with the hills.
Also, during my run, I ran past a woman with a stroller who said "Wow! you're running so fast!" I was running out of steam at that point, so it was a nice little pick me up. Thanks, random woman.
After the run, Cameron and I headed back to NYC. We ran some errands and then I went to my last Crunch class for the week. Hot Pilates.
I did not like it. I didn't really get it to be honest. I barely broke a sweat, despite being in a heated room. Today I don't feel like I got a work out. It was a very slow moving class and we just didn't do very much. We would do 5 minutes of some exercise, then "shake it out" and go into Child's Pose. I'm so used to my Hot Power Yoga classes where Child's Pose is "always available" but only offered a few times a class. Not after every single thing you do! I was trying to keep my core activated the whole time, but there were some movements where you didn't need to, which honestly I think defeats the purpose. I could sit on my couch and clench my abs for free.
I've never taken another Pilates class, so I don't have another one to compare it to, so I'll leave an open mind about Pilates until I've had more experience. However, I was excited to start with a Hot Pilates class because I was looking forward to the challenge, so I'm disappointed that this class was much less than a challenge. No summary of pros and cons for this class because I would not recommend it at all.
So my week at Crunch is finished, and I have to say, overall, it was not so good. I wish I'd been able to go to some of the other classes, like the Body Web TRX class, but I think the fact that it was so difficult to get into didn't encourage me to keep trying. Crunch is $89/month when you pay month-to-month, and I think more if you pay the year in full (the total came out to $1,234 for the year, which is $123/month), which doesn't make sense to me. Thats $10 more/month than my gym, and I have to walk 20+ minutes to get there. I think it might be worth it if the classes were more accessible and provided a more intense workout, but it seems that there is a lot more smoke and mirrors than anything else at Crunch, Union Square.
Have you ever felt disappointed by an exercise class you signed up for? Do you prefer Yoga or Pilates?
Friday, April 6, 2012
Irish Potato Famine 5K
In 2008, my cousin Lizzie came to visit me for 3 weeks when Cameron and I lived in Boston. We had a great time (ok, I did, hopefully she did too!!) and we went to NYC for a few days and inadvertently started an annual reunion with all of my college friends.
While we were in NYC, Lizzie, Cameron, Wendi (my wonderful maid of honor) and I did a little sight seeing. We went to the Sex and the City house (which ironically is walking distance from where we live now) and wandered around downtown Manhattan.
While we were wandering, we stumbled upon the Irish Potato Famine memorial. It was surprisingly a pretty cool memorial, although very random in downtown Manhattan. Hadn't really thought about it in a few years until recently.
Cameron and I went for a run along the Hudson River a couple of months ago and partway through the run, I suddenly thought of the Irish Potato Famine memorial. Cameron felt it was somewhere along our run, so we kept going and we found it! I was pretty excited because it was such a unique monument.
Fast forward to this morning... Since we've signed up to run a 5K, Cam and I decided to run a 5K today. I wanted to have a baseline time to work off of for the actual run we're doing. I got up, went to www.runningmap.com and mapped out a route along the Hudson River. I decided that I don't like running not along the river because of lights etc, so it was better for training purposes to walk to the river, then run, then walk back from the river.
Well... from the Charles St. entrance to the Hudson River Walkway, guess what is 2.5K away?
The Irish Potato Famine Memorial!
And so, the Irish Potato Famine 5K was born.
So at 11:45, Cameron and I left our apartment and set out to run a 5K. I decided I didn't want to slow him down, so we decided to run separately. He started a few minutes after me because he was messing with his phone, but eventually caught up and passed me. My goal was to run the 5K in under 40 minutes, which to all you runners out there might sound like a long time, but I've never RUN a 5K, so I was basically just aiming to finish it without embarrassing myself too much.
I did it in 32 minutes. I am so proud of myself. And clearly, I underestimated myself. By a lot.
So now, for the PRoNE 5K, my goal is to run it in under 30 minutes. To do that, I basically have to be able to run the entire thing. I'm not going to lie, I walked for about... 6-7 minutes total, so if I can cut all of that walking out, I can do under 30 minutes.
On a sidenote, American Pie by Don McLean is both my favorite and most hated song to run to. Its like 9 minutes long, so running for the whole thing means I've run almost a mile. However, after every verse I think, "OK, here comes the slow verse...I'm almost finished" and then its not the slow ending, but some part of the song I completely forgot about. AND then when you do get to the slow part, it drags on for ever and ever and ever. But it takes up a significant portion of the run, so when it finally finishes, I know I've run a lot.
Have you ever underestimated yourself? Do you have any music you love to run to? Any you hate running to?
While we were in NYC, Lizzie, Cameron, Wendi (my wonderful maid of honor) and I did a little sight seeing. We went to the Sex and the City house (which ironically is walking distance from where we live now) and wandered around downtown Manhattan.
While we were wandering, we stumbled upon the Irish Potato Famine memorial. It was surprisingly a pretty cool memorial, although very random in downtown Manhattan. Hadn't really thought about it in a few years until recently.
 |
| The Irish Potato Famine Memorial - picture taken in 2008 during Lizzie's visit |
Fast forward to this morning... Since we've signed up to run a 5K, Cam and I decided to run a 5K today. I wanted to have a baseline time to work off of for the actual run we're doing. I got up, went to www.runningmap.com and mapped out a route along the Hudson River. I decided that I don't like running not along the river because of lights etc, so it was better for training purposes to walk to the river, then run, then walk back from the river.
Well... from the Charles St. entrance to the Hudson River Walkway, guess what is 2.5K away?
The Irish Potato Famine Memorial!
And so, the Irish Potato Famine 5K was born.
So at 11:45, Cameron and I left our apartment and set out to run a 5K. I decided I didn't want to slow him down, so we decided to run separately. He started a few minutes after me because he was messing with his phone, but eventually caught up and passed me. My goal was to run the 5K in under 40 minutes, which to all you runners out there might sound like a long time, but I've never RUN a 5K, so I was basically just aiming to finish it without embarrassing myself too much.
I did it in 32 minutes. I am so proud of myself. And clearly, I underestimated myself. By a lot.
So now, for the PRoNE 5K, my goal is to run it in under 30 minutes. To do that, I basically have to be able to run the entire thing. I'm not going to lie, I walked for about... 6-7 minutes total, so if I can cut all of that walking out, I can do under 30 minutes.
On a sidenote, American Pie by Don McLean is both my favorite and most hated song to run to. Its like 9 minutes long, so running for the whole thing means I've run almost a mile. However, after every verse I think, "OK, here comes the slow verse...I'm almost finished" and then its not the slow ending, but some part of the song I completely forgot about. AND then when you do get to the slow part, it drags on for ever and ever and ever. But it takes up a significant portion of the run, so when it finally finishes, I know I've run a lot.
Have you ever underestimated yourself? Do you have any music you love to run to? Any you hate running to?
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