Yesterday marks exactly 1 year since my first ever blog post. So Happy Blogaversary to me!

blogaversary

 

My 2nd ever post was my recap of last year’s Oakley Mini 10k.

This year was quite a different story to tell. The night before I laid out my gear…

gear setup

gear setup

It’s felt like forever since I did that! I was giddy! Alarm went off at 4:50am and I got ready and had a little breakfast. Duncan’s lucky streak ran out and he finally had to endure an early morning rise due to my running habit.

5:30am unhappy doodle

5:30am unhappy doodle

I got my ankle secure with some KT tape and my slip on ankle brace.

kttape

locked and loaded

locked-and-loaded

broke out the new kicks too!

I was on the road before 6am

vz bridge

my favorite bridge

 

I headed to Lisa’s house in Brooklyn, parked the car and then we hopped on the subway and met up with Karen along the way. We got to the start at the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park about 40 minutes before the start and eventually connected with a few more gals…

Lisa and Cindy

Lisa and Cindy

Lisa and Karen

Lisa and Karen

Lisa and me

Lisa and me

I didn’t really have a plan. Really I wanted to follow doctors orders of not running for 2 more weeks so when I crossed the starting line I was having a little anxiety….

The thought bubble above my head with my inner thoughts went something like this “What if i set myself back? What if i make it worse? What if I don’t finish before the cutoff? Crap I forgot to start my watch! I’m hungry. I can’t possibly walk the entire thing. I wish I brought music. Am I getting a blister already?”

I initially started out running SLOW. It was just as crowded as last year but I wasn’t pushing to weave in and out. So there’s a silver lining =). I finally locked in satellite and got my watch going about 1/4 mile in. My pace was right about 12:00. I shuffled along and stopped to walk every now and then just to check in and feel how the foot was doing.

mile 4 ish

mile 4 ish

This was my slowest 10K time ever…..but I crossed the finish line with only the discomfort of a blister! (Wearing new sneakers on a humid day) My tendonitis did not present a problem.

time-basno

last year I was about 15 minutes faster and my current 10K PR is about 21 minutes faster =)

 

completed-miniI cried a little and just felt very emotional at so many points from driving to Lisa’s in the morning to different points during the race. The entire “high” of running, races, running friends, etc had returned and I was reminded of how much it all means to me. With each mile, each medal, each starting line and each finish line, I fill my “happiness tank” I come home knowing I’ve done my body good, I’ve done my soul good and I’ve created memories to stay with me forever. Injuries are humbling. And climbing back up makes those lows of limping for days worth it.

Injuries need to be treated with the utmost care so you can heal and ensure that you wall always be able to run for life!

Injuries need to be treated with the utmost care so you can heal and ensure that you wall always be able to run for life!

Too much sappiness for you? Sorry! =) After heading home, I showered, ate and took the dog to the park for a bit. I knew I had plans to return back to Central Park for my friend Gary’s birthday picnic and only had a couple of hours from the time I got home from the race until the time i’d have to head back into the city. Duncan was happy to strut his favorite route doing the usual sniffin’ and squirrel hunting.

afternoonwalk

Before I knew it the time had come for me to get back on the road for the picnic. I made a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for a box of munchkins and this time took the bus to Manhattan.

munchkinsLiving in Staten Island is great but the commuting times to and from Manhattan really suck. I spent over 7 hours yesterday either in a car, on a subway or on a bus.

But it was all worth it! The picnic was fun! Gary got some gifts that I was really jealous of.

Larger than life size Mike n Ikes and Twizzlers

Larger than life size Mike n Ikes and Twizzlers

We all dined on cheese, crackers, fruit, wine and sweets. Perfection!

beverages

my classy wine glass and cup holder

my classy wine glass and cup holder

fruitcheese

birthdayboy

timer camera countdown selfie 3-2-1…

cpark-picnic-selfie

hi

runnin-peeps-picnic

Mike, Lisa and Elizabeth (running peeps).

One last goofy pic before we packed it up and headed home.

photo

 

 

 

 

 

Hi all! Happy Sunday!

This morning I got up at 5am and braved the cold temps (we’re talking 17 degrees and that’s not including the wind chill factor) to run the Fred Lebow Manhattan Half Marathon. I was driving not 5 minutes when I realized I left my travel mug filled with hot coffee at the house. I was so sad! But somehow I survived and ran caffeine-free. #miracle.

outfit

Duncan was telling me I’m crazy and that we should go back to bed

I picked up my race number, walked through Strawberry Fields for a quick photo and then sat in my car for a half hour staying warm until it was time to line up in the corals.

birds

I thought it was cool that i saw a cardinal and then 2 blue jays within seconds of each other!

I met up with my friend Carey and we ran the entire 13.1 together! It was so great to have someone there to help me stay in the game. She is the most consistently paced person ever! We did run/walk intervals which I don’t do much but it really helped us recover and prepare for all the rolling hills in Central Park. A few pics from the morning…

photo 1

Another long training run is in the books and from here until April 27th all my long runs are double digits. I love knowing I’ve got plenty of miles to clear my head over the next few months. The only thing I don’t love is having less time on weekends for other stuff. You know, even if you get up early to run, you come home, shower, eat, stretch, walk the dog, post a million photos to Instagram, write a blog, update you Facebook status and share your Runkeeper activity…..oh wait, that’s just me! =)

After the race, I came home and defrosted while cuddling up to my Duncan and my Dunkin…

doubleDs

Moving on… my bedroom and my bathrooms are finally done—a few pics…

bedroom-vignettes

throw pillow “pollooza” • vases • DIY photo matte framing my favorite little furrkid

final bedroom

the complete look….including the best accessory ever napping on the blue throw

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guest bathroom. i went with a dramatic deep purple.

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master bath…gray and yellow. shower curtain and bath mat are from Target

Eventually I’ll show you how the rest of the house turned out. I’m having a hard time putting holes back into the freshly patched and painted walls but I will have to surrender and hang some pictures and my medal holders soon.

I’m watching the Grammy’s now (Pink is just amazing!). Why do weekends fly by?

Question: How are you all spending the last week of January? Any exciting weeknight plans? Anyone else run outside in extreme weather?

Work was the pits yesterday. I think I just assume that our clients will ALSO be busy with their personal stuff like I am and that we’d be slow during the holidays. That never happens. Like clockwork, December tends to be a busy month. I wrapped up a kick-off conference call with a new client and just needed air. I had to go uptown to pick up my race bib for today’s race anyway so I started out on foot walking from Herald Square to Grand Central (about 10 blocks) where I planned on catching the subway uptown to New York Road Runners. But something happened to me in those minutes and I just felt that with every step I walked I felt less stressed. So instead of getting on the subway I continued walking uptown and additional 20 blocks. (20 blocks is approximately 1 mile).

Passed Bliss Spa on my way. Thought about asking if they took "walk-ins". But then I remembered I don't "pamper out the small stuff"....I sweat out the small stuff =)

Passed Bliss Spa on my way. Thought about asking if they took “walk-ins”. But then I remembered I don’t “pamper out the small stuff”….I sweat out the small stuff =)

I popped in to get my race number and then thought i’d continue the walking “therapy” so I headed up a block and entered Central Park at Engineer’s Gate which is where I entered the Park on 11/3 during the NYC Marathon at my very emotional mile 22-23. I felt such a sense of peace and contentment. Being reminded of that awesome marathon day allowed my mind to stop focusing on my current workload woes and instead reflect on my accomplishments and how amazing 2013 has been.

Engineers Gate! Hi Fred Lebow! Consecutive numbers bib!

Engineers Gate! Hi Fred Lebow! Consecutive numbers bib!

This little squirrel scare the bejeezus outta me while I was deep in my reflecting zone

This little squirrel scare the bejeezus outta me while I was deep in my reflecting zone

I walked an additional 20 blocks and then jumped on the subway back to work since at this point my lunch “hour” was well beyond an hour. So 2.5 miles of walking and almost 2 hours out of the office and I was good as new. Sometimes that’s all you need. I returned to my desk and saw the most beautiful gift that was left for me by one of our vendors. Score!

Godiva chocolate...the perfect gift!

Godiva chocolate…the perfect gift!

I completed my work for the day and then headed home.

This morning my alarm woke me at 5:00am. Good thing I set 2 alarms because I did the SAME  thing I did the morning!  Last time I checked, Saturday is NOT a weekday.

I bundled up in my running gear layers and headed to meet my running peeps for our 15K in Central Park. 7am flurries turned into a steady snowfall just as the 8:30am race began. It was magical. I was so happy….smiling from ear-to-ear. I love snow. I love running. I love friends. WIN-WIN-WIN!

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9.3 miles done!

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aid stops were serving water Slushies and Gatorade snow cones. LOL!

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It’s a masked runner peep sandwich. Photo: L. McGarry

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in the corrals walking briskly to the starting line

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Pretty as a picture. Photo: E. Negron-Perez

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We had to conquer the infamous Cat Hill TWICE on this course. Photo E. Negron-Perez

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Running Peeps!

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It’s a PR but only because I haven’t run a 15K in 3 yeas.

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Gatorade slushie and an apple post-race

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one more running peep!

I ran a good race, a PR by 14 minutes actually. But last time I ran a 15K distance was this race in 2010 when I was a lot slower overall). My Garmin said 9.5 miles (instead of 9.3) so average pace 9:48. My official time was only 4 seconds different but because the distance is 9.3 My official average pace was 10:00 on the button.  I definitely hit a wall today around mile 7. It was tough getting up Cat Hill the second time. I didn’t eat much this morning before the race and didn’t eat anything at all during the race. At one point I could hear my stomach growl.

1214splitsI’m now home and thawed out and refueled (The box of Godiva is almost gone!) and watching the snow come down.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Question: Have you ever run in the snow? Do you ever just feel so overwhelmed at work that you need to walk 50 blocks to clear your head? LOL!

Yesterday morning it was time to say goodbye to Lake Champlain and the beautiful Adirondacks. Donna and I (and the doodle) were on the road by 7:15am. The plan was for me to drive about 4 hours to Rockland County where my friend Sue lives so I could visit with her a bit before driving the last hour home. I was also planning on dropping Donna at a train station right in that town where she could get an express train to Manhattan and then transfer to another train to be home by 2pm (she doesn’t drive so she is used to being dropped at train stations). I got her to the station at 11:33am for the 11:45am train. She got her ticket, and then we just hugged goodbye and talked about how perfect things had worked out. The train pulled in to the station, she got on, and then the doodle and i walked back to the car. I opened the passenger door for Duncan to hop in and that’s when I saw Donna’s cell phone! It was charging in my car on the drive down and in our excitement that she was able to catch the express train neither one of us noticed. So I grabbed the phone and started running back to the station where the train was still actually in the station but the doors were closed. I screamed and ran like they do in the movies….but much to no avail…. the train pulled out…

Later in the afternoon she called me from her ….um….what do they call them?…..oh right! land line. (shiver) and we came up with a plan to get her the phone back.  I had plans to drive in to Manhattan and run with my peeps this morning, so Donna decided she’d take the train from her house to Penn Station and i’d meet her there after my running. So this morning I drove into Manhattan…

Verrazano Bridge sunrise

Verrazano Bridge sunrise

…and put on my SpiBelt with both my cell and Donna’s cell on the belt. I felt like Tim the Toolman Taylor!!! Off I went to meet my peeps. We ran along the west side up to Central Park for a loop and then back down the west side.

some of the female peeps who all have worked or still work at the same place.

some of the female peeps who all have worked or still work at the same place.

we passed some cool looking sculptures like this one:

engaged to the big apple =)

engaged to the big apple =)

and then there were the usual colorful canoes:

photo 1

I had planned on running 10 miles but it was still so early that i ran 3 additional miles, then walked 1 more and still had time to grab some breakfast before Donna’s train arrived. The phone return went off without a hitch. We laughed about it and said goodbye and then I walked another mile back downtown to get to my car and head home.

Speaking of cell phones… I met up with my friend Sue  yesterday (after the train station drop off) and we talked at length about cell phones particularly smart phones and how addictive they are for some. (raising hand! yep. i admit i’m addicted to being connected) then today a friend posted this vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8#t=109

 

Question: How addicted to your smart phone are you? I confess I desperately held my phone up to one corner of the cottage while I was away just to post a pic to instagram!