Hi there and Happy Wednesday.

Things are moving along and my Subaru is being repaired. They said it might even be ready to be picked up before the week is out! In the meantime I’ve rented a car to get to and from work and life carries on.

My new morning ritual. Turn on computer, sip coffee and have a few handfuls of Peanut M&Ms. Clearly not the healthiest choice

My new morning ritual. Turn on computer, sip coffee and have a few handfuls of Peanut M&Ms. Clearly not the healthiest choice

I went for a run on Monday night just after sunset and about a mile and a half into the run Mr. SOTSS called. I normally don’t run with my phone for short runs but since it was going to be dark I took it with me just to be safe. I’ve never answered a phone call while running before but I knew I had to answer because Monday was a special day. It marked 2 years to the day that Mr. SOTSS and I had our first date in a Starbucks in Manhattan. I got a side stitch at one point, so I walked a few blocks. But once it subsided I picked it up again.

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Yesterday was my first stressful day at the office so after work, since I had to pick up a few items at the store, I randomly grabbed People magazine. I figured that between some playtime with Duncan and perusing a mindless magazine I’d be able to #let-it-go.

mindless reading and a little "tug"

mindless reading and a little “tug”

There's just no way to remain stressed when this static electricity eared doodle gives you that face

There’s just no way to remain stressed when this static electricity eared doodle gives you that face

Ok now on to the serious stuff.

This morning I ran a few miles in honor of a very special little girl.

IMG_2902If you read this post about my meaningful miles at the NYC Marathon you know the story. Abbie, the daughter of my former High School friend was struck by a car and killed tragically while crossing the street a year ago today. His family continues to keep her memory alive through random acts of kindness. So with Abbie’s favorite color being purple, I decided to bring these Hershey Kisses to the office this morning and place a couple on each of my team’s desks. #RandomActsofKindness4Abbie #never4getAbbieZ

For Abbie

For Abbie

Feel free to visit this beautiful memorial page on Facebook

So if you’re reading this today, maybe there’s some way for you to act kindly, randomly, to someone? 

Have a great day!

 

 

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a lovely weekend. I celebrated my friend Lenny’s birthday and enjoyed his doggie duo. Belinda, the brindle boxer is still a puppy (about a year and a half) and so goofy! Look how she sits on her big brother Lu…

Belinda sitting on her big brother

Belinda sitting on her big brother

I melt

I melt

Happy Birthday Lenny.

Happy Birthday Lenny.

I also got in another 4 miler. It’s fairly hilly so I just worked on keeping my effort even while my pace slowed a bit. The best part about an out-and-back hilly route is you get to go DOWN those hills too!

what goes up must come down

what goes up must come down

another easy 4 miles

another easy 4 miles

we are both "stretching"

we are both “stretching”

Before I continue with this post I just wanted to share a post by my friend Roger.

such an inspiration!

such an inspiration!

He’s quite an amazing guy. He went from being morbidly obese and barely able to walk 3 miles to running the Boston Marathon and 7 years later he just decided to go run 32 miles. Read all about it here!

OK, now on to tell you about the Emjoi Micro-Pedi…

With summer on the way and sandals waiting to be worn I decided it was time to smooth out my heels. Usually I go the pumice stone route but the nice people at Emjoi gifted me a Micro-Pedi to try out. I figured I’d give it a whirl. (The Micro-Pedi was gifted to me but this post contains my own opinions and I was not paid to write it)

Emjoi-micro-pedi

Well hello?! That was fun! Seriously within a minute my heels were soft and all the dead calloused skin gone.

micro-pedi-beforeNow let me just mention I’m not training for anything right now so it’s the perfect time to get rid of my tough skin. I wouldn’t ever attempt this when logging high mileage during marathon training =)

micro-pedi-after

that’s my dead skin. Eeeeewwww!!! Make sure you do this over a towel! They give a little cleaning brush too and you can rinse the cartridge as well. (just don’t submerge the entire unit).

I used it mainly on my heels. I was shocked that it didn’t hurt or tickle. It was pretty painless and SO QUICK! The micro mineral roller is made from naturally processed stone that spins 30 times per second to break up, buff and remove callused skin from the feet.

micro-pedi-benefits

I absolutely agree with bullet #2.

I’ll definitely be using this again. The pamphlet that came with it said that you can use the same cartridge for a few sessions before replacing (for sanitary reasons do not share so buy one for your mom or your friend as a gift). If you want to buy a Micro-Pedi or replacement cartridges you can get them at emjoi.com but they’re cheaper on Amazon.

The Micro-Pedi works well with other attachments so you can take care of your fingernails and even your elbows!

The simply packaged version with one roller is $29.95 and there’s a spa-themed gift boxed version with 2 rollers for $39.95.

So now you’re in the know if you happen to be thinking about upgrading from manual foot smoothing tools.

 Tell me about your weekend!

20. May 2015 · 4 comments · Categories: inspiration · Tags: , ,

Warning: I get a little deep here and think I needed to write this more for me but I hope you gain something from reading. =)

Where do you feel most at peace? What gives you purpose?

Sunday morning I was in the car sipping coffee, singing out loud along with my favorite radio station’s acoustic set which I so rarely get to listen to (I’m one of the few people left on the planet who doesn’t have satellite radio otherwise i’d be listening to the coffee house channel because I’m a sucker for acoustic, singer-songwriter genre music. The doodle was on the front seat (about to be dropped off at my sister in laws) and I was driving to the start of a charity 5k run.
co pilot

co pilot

IMG_5465

<<___________________________________________________________>>
I felt so at peace and happy. It made me think a lot about the things/people/places that make me feel that way. After my husband died I spent more than a decade seeking out solitude and peace. I found it with a walk in the woods, catching up with a friend over a cup of coffee or a road trip. I loved to drive and would drive all over to meet up with friends for long weekends. And then I found running. Running soothed my soul and gave me peace and comfort. And we can’t post about peace without mentioning Duncan—I come home from work at night and all my stress melts away as we get comfy on the sofa and settle in for the night.
can't get any more peaceful. Dog, nature walk and coffee!

can’t get any more peaceful. Dog, nature walk and coffee!

<<___________________________________________________________>>
Anyway that leads me to the second part of this post and brings it back to the 5k I was driving to. I was headed to this charity 5k to run with Mr. SOTSS and his (almost) 10 and (almost) 12 year-old daughters. I was happy to be in such a calm peaceful and joyful mood. I was looking forward to the run not knowing it would be for anything more than just to help Mr. SOTSS out and my own Sweat Out the Small Stuff reasons.
As we lined up at the start I paired up to run with his older daughter and Mr. SOTSS paired up with his little one.
lined up

lined up representing a whole lotta sneaker brands Brooks, Asics, Saucony and Nike! =)

While I am now a year into my relationship with Mr. SOTSS I am still early on in getting to know his girls. Mr S. has been great at knowing when the appropriate time to introduce us was and he continues to know when it makes sense to include me. I know it’s all new for him too and I really commend him on how he’s handled everything so far. Those girls are very lucky. They have a super dedicated mom and a doting dad to start. And then they have lots of other role models in their lives like sports coaches, teachers and extended family. I’ve had some anxiety over how I would be perceived and whether or not the girls would really look for anything more from me other than dad’s friend Sally who does arts and crafts and plays video games with them. But it was during the race that I realized that I could be an additional role model in their lives and instinctually (the way I am with my niece and nephew) I thought about how I could provide value instead of just keeping his daughter company. At one point about halfway during the race his daughter who I was running with was struggling a bit…mainly the heat and humidity were getting to her. Her cheeks were flushed and she was having some trouble trying to stay in control of her breathing. I told her to let me know if she wanted to slow down but she said she was ok. Something made me think she she just might not have felt comfortable enough to tell me if she wanted to slow down so I told her I had friends who ran marathons by doing run/walk intervals. They had a watch that would beep every 4 minutes to let them know to take a walk break. And they would continue running 4 minutes and walking 1 minute for the entire race which helped them recover. I then told her about some strategies I use when there are hills. I would take it easy and walk up the hills knowing it’s easier to go downhill so i could start back running on the downhills. Basically I wanted to give her some food for thought. So as we approached the next hill she asked if we could walk a bit and then when we got to the top of the hill and she could see it was time for the downhill she said “OK, I’m ready to start running again”. I didn’t tell her what to do or how to handle her discomfort yet my information helped her to make decisions. And not only did she complete the race but she was totally in control. She didn’t whine or cry or make a big deal about how hard it was to run in the heat and humidity. She didn’t just decide to walk the rest. She never gave up. She chose what part of the remaining course she’d walk and what part she’d run using signs as markers and making note of the hills. And she sprinted to the finish with all the confidence in the world. (Side note: she also chose to pour water over her head at some of the water stops and we giggled together. I’m sure it felt good and someday I might just have to try that too.)
IMG_5479

She has great form too!

We can feel peace when we feel purpose. 
Both girls did wonderfully and after joining them and their dad for a little post race lunch at their aunt’s house I said goodbye. My original purpose was just to help Mr. SOTSS out and escort one girl so that each girl could run their own race and he didn’t have to try and stay as a group. But it became more than that for me and hopefully for his daughter too.
And I learned a little something from the girls, too. Running is just a part of life. Afterward, drawing contests and selfies with dad and Chester the dog were just as important as the 3.1 mile run they participated in earlier. I want to take that mindset and apply it to my training for the NYC marathon. I want to remind myself that while I will be running a lot for 16 weeks of training, it is just a part of my life. And hopefully I’ll get to be part of those drawing contests and silly selfies too. We can’t take life too seriously or we’ll forget to have fun.
I couldn’t complete this post without a special dedication for an 11-year old who was tragically killed yesterday. Abigail Zukowski was the youngest daughter of a high school friend of mine. While I haven’t seen him in years we had reconnected on Facebook a few years back and today I learned of this unfortunate news. She was crossing the street in the crosswalk and struck by a car. I’m so very saddened for him and his family including their two other daughters.
Do you have kids?
Do you teach or coach?
What makes you feel at peace?
What give you purpose?

In my last post I was still coming to terms with this injury and raw emotion poured out. Thank you so much to those who commented or even just read through my emotional word dump. It’s so helpful for me to have this blog and to be able to get stuff out like that. That was the catalyst for me to get back to being me…HAPPY SALLY. Sally who makes a Plan B when Plan A can’t happen. And so I did…

That 5k I was supposed to run on Saturday? I still went but I walked it and even with my limp I blew past so many other walkers. I think it took me about 57 or 58 minutes to complete. And you know what? It was fun anyway. I still got to meet up with friends beforehand and catch up on life.

smiley

Alex, Jane, Jane’s friend Amy, me and……OK, so my camera-shy boyfriend finally allowed me to take some creative license so I don’t have to crop him out of every pic. I’m pleased to present his blog persona: the always smiling, blue-eyed Mr. Sweat Out The Small Stuff (SOTSS)

Mr. SOTSS (Sweat Out the Small Stuff) finished in less than 25 minutes and then came back to the course with his dog and they walked the last mile with me. And afterward I went out for breakfast with my friends Jane and Alex who also ran it. The coolest part of the morning was seeing the college gymnasium filled from wall to wall with thousands of toys! The “entry fee” to this race was a toy ($10 or more in value). Giving IS so much better than receiving. This I know.

2014-12-06 14.09.23

Me, Jane and Jane's friend Bill

Me, Jane and Jane’s friend Bill

I iced my ankle a lot afterward. It didn’t feel any worse or better so I am happy about that.

My next compromise for the weekend was for the hike I wanted to do yesterday. I knew it was described as “moderate to strenuous” and that there were spots along the trail that would require literally using hands and feet to scale rocks! I knew that my ankle brace wasn’t going to be enough. My sneakers wouldn’t cut it for this hike. I am low on the funds front these days and fancy $200 hiking boots weren’t an option but I scored a great deal on some really sturdy Merrell hiking boots.

2014-12-05 12.46.36

They were only $79 at Marshall’s. I took Duncan for a test walk in the woods to see how the shoes felt.

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