Lazy Day and Japan Run Booty

I had full intentions of running to Socrates Sculpture Park and taking one of their free yoga classes this morning. They really have a lot of great offerings:

(On a side note, pretty much all NYC parks have free yoga classes during the summer, so check out websites for nearby offerings--okay, I am lazy today!--I'll get my act together for you guys and do a listing later this week too.)

Yoga in the Park
Saturdays, May 10 - September 27 (rain or shine)
First session: 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Second session: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Pilates in the Park
Sundays, May 11 - June 29 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (rain or shine)

Tai Chi in the Park
Sundays, May 11 – September 28 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM (rain or shine)

Capoeira in the Park Saturdays, May 10 - September 27 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (rain or shine)

However, I woke up at 6:30am with quite the wine headache and really felt the need to take the morning slow and laze around a bit. Although, if I had known I was going to wake up so early, I would have definitely decided to go out dancing with friends rather than being lame and staying in, so it would have been worth it. I feel as though I am being punished...haha.

I decided to take a stroll down along the piers by the water, I live in Long Island City right on the water's edge. It was incredible, the quiet of the water and the stateliness of the skyline, even though it isn't a sunny day, it was beautiful in it's own way. I also discovered a little garden area that filled me with joy!

There is something about living by the water that I find so restorative for the soul. I always feel more at peace with a greater sense of clarity when I am by the water, even without the sound of the ocean waves lapping onto the beach, it's still quite magical. This is technically my third time living by the water, first on Martha's Vineyard, next for a couple months at the South Street Seaport and now in Long Island City, on each occasion I felt and now feel like literally the luckiest person in the world.

I'll add pictures at some point! But for now I'll put in the view from my bedroom, even on my crappy camera it's pretty cool. I want everyone to move into my building or at least come visit!

This is the Manhattan skyline, my camera really sucks, but you can see the Chrysler Building. This is looking out to Queens with lots of bridges.
This is proof I am in LIC, with the Citibank Building standing tall.

After strolling around the piers, making love to my new neighborhood. I headed up to the roof deck of my building to read some magazines. I was all alone, which was quite a switch from last night when the cabanas were hopping and the vino was flowing. I am not sure which I prefer, although I definitely appreciated the "me time" today!

I'll definitely head to the gym at some point today, but first I think I will tackle building some more furniture, hanging pictures and curtain rods and the never ending organizing process. I will NEVER move again. Famous last words.

In other news, I am doing the Japan Run tomorrow. I went to pick up my race packet yesterday, since the race starts at 8am (Why?) and they aren't doing day of packet distribution (why?) and NYRR is on 89th (why?) so I didn't want to be forced to make a trip uptown if I ended up having afternoon plans today. Anyways, usually I don't really pick up anything except my shoe chip (which records your time) and the bib (so they know you are not a bandit runner), but this race seemed to have quite the mother load of goodies, so I figured I might as well pick up the jam-packed tote, compliments of Mitsubishi.

I thought I would share. If you have never run a race, sign up for a 5k, it's always fun to get free stuff and there is no need to be intimidated. Short runs are for all levels, and serious runners rarely waste their time with community runs, there are just too many people to get a good time.

In the bag: Chocolate Peanut Butter Soyjoy bar. I hear they are pretty gross, but my curiosity will probably get the better of me.

The T-shirt. Definitely don't need another t-shirt, but it's kind of cute and unlike most race t-shirts, not MASSIVE.
There was also this really big electrolyte fuel stuff. I really don't think I could take this much substance without gagging. Plus, it's only 70 cals total (really?) which defeats the purpose of having a quick source of energy on the run. I am not impressed.This is actually really awesome, a Zagat guide to the best Japanese restaurants in the US!
Water bottle, can't have too many.A laptop case?
Lots of info on running and marathons in Japan.

The important stuff. Shoe chip and safety pins--always forget them!


And the bib!

Happy Saturday. I'll let you know how the race goes tomorrow.

Run for Some Tiffany's

Super exciting news!

The Nike Women's Marathon (which sold out in hours) is open to everyone, everywhere. So get ready to run like a girl, ladies.

All you have to do is own a Nike+ Ipod Sport or the Nike+ Sportband, and you can register to log 13.1 miles on October 19th. There is no need to be in San Fran. If you don't own any nike+ sport gear, you can get it on amazon or the Nike website and if you don't wear Nike's, you can pick up a shoe pouch for under $10.

There is a $45 registration fee, and all finishers will receive a key chain designed by Tiffany & Co. and a Finisher's T-Shirt from Nike. You can run on your own (the nike+sports stuff will track and send the info to Nike via your online account) or sign up to join runners near you. See website for details and locations.

There are no excuses! You have plenty of time to train!

While my San Fran experience was irreplacable, as you can read in my earlier posts, I am so excited to be able to participate without having to spend the money to go to SF.

It is also a great girl power event; I read one reaction from a guy who ran the Nike Women's Marathon and he said something to this effect: why do they let guys sign up for this? When I finished they handed me a necklace and pink shirt that said "ran like a girl." Quel Beast. Darling, what did you expect?

Workout/diet Update

So far my "eating lifestyle" changes have been going pretty well. Progress, not perfection. I would like to point out that I think adopting lifestyle changes is a far better idea than going on a diet. With the exception of diet coke, I am not trying to cut anything out of my diet, but I find making changes like not mindlessly grazing/eating and not grazing and having dessert after dinner, cuts down a lot (but not all) of my cookies, chocolate, ice cream, bites of this and that (the extras as Joy Bauer would say), so that seems to be good.

I haven't been perfect with diet coke, but I have cut down about a third of what I used to drink and boy have the sweets cravings subsided! I literally went all of Tuesday without ever thinking about sweets and ate no refined stuff all day, which is very unlike me. I have found the key is to get through the morning with out any stimulants like diet coke or really sweet things, then it is smooth(er) sailing from there.

Of course the workout part is the easiest part for me! I just love the high of an intense workout and the lingering happy buzz that I feel on the way home from the gym. Even on days when I really really don't want to go and drag myself through the workout, I think of this motto: you never feel worse after going to the gym. It's true.

So onto the workouts:

Monday: 30 minutes on elliptical (watching Jon and Kate+8--I am a dork!_
15 minute treadmill run

Leg/glute work
Quad press about 24 reps, half regular, half down in 2nd position, plie style
abductor and adductor machine (24 reps each)
hamstring curl machine-20 reps
quad extension machine-20 reps
22 total lunges with 5 pound weights doing overhead presses
24 back lunges with weights while extending arms to the side
25 squats on that half ball thing (bosui?)

Arm work
5 minutes general arm work, curls, tricep extensions, etc.

Ab work

Stay slim on the Road Workout

With my own additions.

After "the dolphin" I go into my own plank series.

I stay in plank and then I jog my knees (basically alternating) for 30 seconds. rest for 10 seconds. Go back into plank for 30 seconds. Do double knee touch downs for 30 reps in plank position. Rest 15 seconds. The I go into plank and alternate touching my hips to the ground. Left hip touch, return to center, right hip touch. For about 30 total touches.

With the "Grasshopper" I usually do another 12 reps.

After the "Balancing Calm" I do leg lifts in that position, 12 on each side, plus 10 leg circles in the position, in each direction.

I also did a lot of walking on Monday.

Tuesday:

35 minutes elliptical
30 minute treadmill run

Lots of abs, including the Stay Slim on the Road Workout, 100 sit ups on the stability ball, leg lifts on the ab thing I can't remember the name of but you hang and lift your legs. Plus a few rounds of regular crunches, bicycles, the sit ups with a medicine ball.

Wednesday:

10 minute warm up run at 6 mph
Master the Treadmill with OK GO

35 minutes on elliptical

10 minutes stretching sore muscles.

I also started out my morning by walking to work from Grand Central about 2 miles.

Lots of short races coming up, and I need to try out all the classes I have been eyeing!

Thanks for the comments, I will respond soon.

Sleep Running!

So you all know I can't resist free fitness opportunities, and the New York Road Runner's is offering free registration for their Anniversary Run on June 4th, and you all know I can't pass up free fitness opportunities! (It usually costs around $15 for NYRR members.) This races counts as a qualifier for the New York Marathon entry. In case you don't know, if you run 9 races within a year with New York Road Runners and volunteer at two races, you get automatic entry into the NYC IMG Marathon the next year. Otherwise you can enter the lotto, but chances are slim (I am in it for 2009), or donate a lot of $. If you enter the lotto 3 times in a row and don't get in, you automatically get in. There are other ways to get in, but those are the basic ones.

So the catch is that it starts at 5:30 am on a Wednesday morning. OMG is that early. However, in coercing my friend to do it with me, we came up with a brilliant plan--run in our pajamas.

But of course, pajamas alone was not enough, by the end of our plotting we decided to wear pajamas, rollers in our hair, eye masks, and to hold teddy bears. Yes, while we are in our 20's and 30's, this seems fun and hilarious--and not at all lame. Plus, it's a great excuse for a slumber party on a school night...lol. You all are welcome to join, pajamas and rollers optional! Sunrise and invitation to post-run coffee included!

Don't worry, there will be photos!

My own challenge

I am finally done moving, although I feel like the settling and nesting will go on forever! The more I do the more seems to need to be done. But it is so worth it because I can't even believe how great this place is!

Back to my challenge, one shared by so many, those last 10 pounds. Over the last year and a half, I have put on about 10 pounds. While I am in the healthy range, I just like how body looks and how my clothes fit at the lower end of the healthy range. So I have created a plan--the easy part--and now I have to get started and follow it--the hard part! I have really fallen off the wagon so serious work and change is necessary!

The Diet Part

While exercise will clearly play a part, I know that diet is what is really holding me back, so I have come up with 3 basic changes to start. Ideally there are about a million things in relation to what I eat and how I eat it that I should change, but first I need to master these and then add more as necessary. The funny thing is most people think I am such a health nut, but while I eat mainly health foods, I eat too many of them and plenty of unhealthy foods (mostly sweets and refined carbs) too.

Change #1-Eat only when hungry. So simple, if everyone did this, noone would be overweight! However, it is the habits: mindless grazing, dessert everynight before bed, the mini toblerone you can't resist whenever you are at that certain deli, the calorie bomb cosi bread that comes with the salad. There is also the emotional eating. I am not sure how much of an emotional eater I am. But when you can only eat when you are hungry, you tend to have to actually deal with the emotions that rise to the surface instead of being swallowed, so I will have to see how much work I have to do with that! I feel the mindless eating and habits are certainly more of a problem for me!

Change #2: No Diet Soda! My deep dark diet secret, is actually not a secret to anyone who has met me. I love diet coke with all of my heart. I always say that I should be a diet coke add because I am always so blissful when drinking it. However, my DC habit is out of control. I have been trying to quit for so long, and I can't seem to do it. It is like smoking for me, although my smoker friends refuse to believe this. Anyways, I have a list of 60 reasons not to drink diet soda and yet I do it every single day, several times a day. So that will actually be the hardest thing. It is not that I completely buy the recent studies claiming that artificial sweetners make you fat, but I definitely know that they leave me hungrier and craving more sugar.

I swear this photo is completely candid--it is a little old though! I had just biked ten miles from Oak Bluffs to South Beach on Martha's Vineyard. And all I wanted to refresh was my diet coke--this coke looks huge in the photo, but it is a 20 ounce not a liter!Why don't I love water? I also had a lovely Treehugger sandwich from the infamous Humphrey's in my bag.

Change #3: No eating after dinner. This will cut around 300 calories out of my day, so it's a no brainer. But it is a habit,so that will be the challenge. I ALWAYS have a snack or dessert after dinner. I'll let you know if I come up with any effective strategies!

The Exercise Part:

I find that getting in 5 workout sessions of at least 65 minutes of challenging cardio is what it takes for me to start dropping pounds, so that is the goal with 3 30 minute strength sessions a week as well. Yoga/pilates where ever I can fit it in!

Kick off workout:

Today I did the first workout I have been proud of in a long time.

I went downstairs to the gym and did 15 minutes on the treadmill walking at 5% incline at 4.2 mph. I was watching Everyday Italian. It's a little weird to watch the Food Network while working out, but I have to get my fill of Giada! I love that the gym in my building has TVs that get every channel, so I have no excuse to watch tv on the couch if I haven't been to the gym yet. After that I did 30 minutes on the elliptical. Then I ran to the Socrates Sculpture Park-- I love this place; they offer capeoria, yoga and pilates free in the mornings! It was about 2 miles to the park. I did fartleks: sprinting as hard as I could for a minute and halfish and walking just long enough to catch my breath. I had to walk most of the way back, jogging parts of the way when I had the energy. While I am clearly not in the best shape of my life, at least I ended my workout feeling like I had done my best.

Thanks for bearing with the long post. Hopefully I can drop the last ten! Send any suggestions my way! xoxo

Summer Loving via Running

Umm. The title of the post is so cheesy, I apologize! Yesterday, I literally fell off the stairmaster when a friend tapped my on the shoulder at the gym. Why? Not because I was totally in the zone, but because I was completely agast to see the word SEX on the cover of Runner's World.

They have a small section devoted to love and running, and even go as far to assure people that pre-race sex can only be of benefit, forever banishing the phrase "not tonight honey" in this context. Excerpt for May/June issue below:

Prerace WarmupDoes sex before competition hurt your running?

Not tonight honey, I'm racing tomorrow. It's an ancient excuse--literally--dating back to Ikkos of Tarentum, who swore off sex for months leading up to the Olympic Games of 44 BC. (On the upside, Ikkos won the Pentathlon.) But chances are you won't exert enough energy to tap into your reserves. "Ten minutes of sex burns 50 to 60 calories on average, equivalent to walking a half mile," says Tommy Boone, Ph.D., author of Sex Before Athletic Competition: Myth or Fact. Even better, sex could possibly improve your performance. "There is anecdotal evidence that it has a positive effect," says Boone. "If sex helps you relax, reduces your anxiety, and helps you sleep, then why would you give it up? You could be worse off not doing it." Now there's a new way to get a little faster.

A few other interesting things that I read about recently are Fitness Singles and Running Singles. I know nothing about these groups other than that they are growing in popularity. Not that I am putting down running to meet people or online dating. I didn't join Team in Dating, I mean Team in Training to meet guys, persay, but I didn't totally escape the inevitable. Who doesn't want to date a fit person? Although, I must admit, many male runners are too skinny for my taste!

What I do love are the New Balance commercials about running from their very expensive new ad campaign: Love/hate is the new balance. Good job guys, they rock!



I never thought of New Balance as running shoes, maybe hiking, but apparently they are, according to Clander anyways :).

Okay, enough about fitness friskiness! In a post coming very soon ( I promise), I will discuss my new fitness/diet goals and my plan to get back into shape!

xoxo!

Weekly Workout Wrap Up

Monday-Crunch Fat Burning Pilates Video

Tuesday-lots of energy and somehow extra time to sneak bits of exercise in here and there!
morning-stay slim on the road workout from Fitness Magazine
mile walk to work
Afternoon-25 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stretching
Evening-2 miles walk, stripper strength class

Wednesday-2 mile walk (I walked to the tnt event instead of hopping on the subway)

Thursday-Power circuit-10 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes rower, 10 minutes treadmill, 10 minutes stairmaster --if I have extra time, sometimes I will do this twice, but not on my lunch hour!
Also a mile or so walk through Soho, but at a very leisurely pace.

Friday-Crunch fat-burning Pilates video

Saturday: Workout in the Park: all classes 20 minutes (I'll go into detail about the whole day in another post:))

Strength and Alignment
Latino Groove (1/2)
Absolution (1/2)
Cardio Tai Box
Retro-Robics
Camp Crunch
Million Dollar Knock-out
Masala Bhangra-I heart this!

Sunday-Tried to run, but I was too sore! So I went on a 5 mile walk instead. I'm a little obsessed with Gavin Degraw's song, "In Love with a Girl" so it was nice to be able to listen to slower music.

My calves are really burning. I am not sure whether this is because I wore heels a lot this week (4 inch pumps all day Friday!) or from Self Workout in the Park!

Running Reflections one year later

Last night was the Team in Training Fall event kickoff! (there is still time to sign up if you are interested.)

People who had never run, biked or swam more than a few hundred feet were starting their journey to the finish line of the:


Westchester Triathlon
Nations Triathlon
Nike Women's Marathon
Marine Corp Marathon
New York City Half Marathon Presented by NIKE
ING New York City Marathon

There is still room to sign up if you are interested!

I ended up skipping my workout for the day to volunteer as part of the alumni committee. (okay, I actually hit snooze instead of going to yoga in the morning and then went to Sephora to do my make up and try Michael Kor's Island Capri fragrance on my lunch hour instead of going to the gym.) But by the time I got home around 9:30, I was too tired to pop in a work out video.

But seeing so many people start their endurance event journey with TNT was totally worth it!

I was practically bursting with excitement for them! I remember being in their shoes, listening to all the cancer survivors speak, the coaches talk about the program, the TNT staff doing silly fundraising skits, the mentors reassuring all the nervous newbies!

Team in Training is such a special family to be a part of! I caught up on gossip with a few of my favorite girl friends. Saw a former co-worker. Wished my Revy luck with her half-iron man triathalon in Florida this weekend, and met a few new people too!

I am going to mentor a season. I just have to decide which one! It's a big commitment, so I need to find a season where it is not too cold for my wussy butt!

Anyways, I got a few goodies while I was at the event. I got to talk (ahem..flirt) with the (cute) Nike Town boys who had a both in the lobby where I was greeting. Now 82 of the 84 shoes are made to accomodate the Nike Sport+ipod+ and the Nike+ Sportband.



I really love the new retro looking Nike Air Zoom Hayward 3+ sneakers! Even though retro usually isn't my style! Alas, they aren't great for runners who need support for stability!



I also found out that the free Nike running groups are available at 4 locations:


NY Running Co. Time Warner Center, 2nd Floor
Mondays@ 6:30



Niketown
6 East 57th Street
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm
Saturdays and 9am

Paragon Sports
Broadway at 18th Street
Wednesdays at 6:30pm


Starbucks 164 7th Ave Park Slope Brooklyn
Sat. 9am


There a several cool thingsabout these FREE groups:
-you can test about Nike shoes and products and
-you have a place to safely leave your stuff!


The TNT goody bag also had:


A free Pilates Reformer class!


A three day pass to Equinox Gym. The classes there look so amazing, I can't wait to try them! How will I even pick? Suggestions?

My friend is also giving me a bunch of passes to the equally fabulous Reebox Sports Club, so I have a lot of exciting workout opportunities coming up.


There couldn't be a better time to get free stuff because I am moving to a much much more expensive apartment next week, which is like half the size of my current one. I know it seems ridiculous because I have a great apartment now, but it was time for a change. My new building has a state of the art gym, spas, a 4 season pool, tanning decks, a movie screening room, wireless lounges, a billiard room, boccie ball on the roof deck, and laundry in my unit (omfg!). So I am nervous and excited! Sorry if I sound like I am bragging, for the record my room (looking out at the skyline from the 29th floor) is TINY!


Another great goody bag find was Keribar! I had heard about these bars designed by, nutritionist to the stars, Keri Glassman, but I had never had one! So good. The ingredient list wasn't too bad either. They aren't raw like larabars, but they do have a little bit more protein. I really loved the cherry almond, and all the flavors sound great--chocolate chip strawberry and apple peanut butter! The texture was kind of like a powerbar, but it didn't taste like nastiness! Definitely a new fav!



I went to Self Workout in the Park today, so I will post about within the next few days. I have been so busy lately, I haven't been in my apartment more than two waking hours in weeks! I am working about 25 hours overtime this week and moving this weekend, but after that I should be more consistent!

I hope you guys are getting some nice May weather wherever you are!

Rebel Rebel-StripXpertease

So yesterday I tried something really different...a strip tease workout class. My super hot co-worker has been going for years, and I finally got the free time in my schedule and gumption to go with her.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I kind of figured it would be better than the wimpy Carmen Electra yawn-fests, maybe something like the gym-goer geared strip classes at Crunch.

This was much more. I took it at StripXpertease. It was the real deal, like after many many more lessons, I could probably be a stripper. Plus (and perhaps most importantly) it was a great workout!

There was intense thigh, calf, and glute work in the first section of the class. Advanced students do the class in insane stiletto heels, but I chose to take my first class barefoot. I honestly would have died otherwise!

It's hard to explain the class exactly, but you do a lot of strengthening exercises that just happen to be lap dance or strip tease moves. We used a chair while we rolled our hips, dipped, grinded, squatted in every suggestive way imaginable and then held our legs in positions that required serious strength and flexibility.

Moving along, we had a great stretch session before moving on to ab and leg work. This was done leaning back in chairs, so your abs had to be fully engages to lift your legs straight out in front of you, and then cross, close and lift them all over the place.

We then moved onto the floor for what I would describe as grinding in the bridge position.

We finished up with a few walks and more stretching.

What makes this different from any other workout was how comfortable you have to be with your body. While you are using every muscle fiber to lift your self out of squats, you are also grabbing, touching, squeezing, closing and opening pretty much every female part of your anatomy. I honestly felt like it was very freeing to be so in touch with my sexuality. It really is empowering to feel sexy, pretty, and strong. The class is for 18 and up, which I think is appropriate. Although Jess might argue 14 is a fine age for such types of sexual awareness. :)
If you have any curiosity--and want to feel free, liberated and sexy--definitely try the class. Even if you aren't really THERE yet. Everyone is wearing leggings or yoga pants with t-shirts, so it's not thongs or anything. Plus, you only have to do as much "touching and grabbing" as you feel comfortable with.

Kimberly, the instructor, was awesome! She really pushed us, didn't let us give up, and despite the awkwardness of some of the positions, reminded us to be sexy! I didn't find out until after the class that she was a stripper for 8 years! She started StripXpertease and there are branches in Texas and New York. She was energetic, demanding and funny. Especially when she referenced which moves translated to the bedroom or the nightclub. You can check out her blog too.

It is always good to feel a little rebellious. Kind of like eating ice cream straight out of the half gallon container...after you have already had a bowl! And I figure being rebellious with workouts is probably better than with food or money!

For the record, my legs were burning climbing up the subway stairs this morning!

Tips for finding the perfect shoes

Finding the perfect sneaker can be a tricky, in some cases, even a daunting proposition. There are so many variables: pronation, foot shape, stride style, intended use, terrain. All of these come into play on your quest to find the shoe that will make you feel like Paula Radcliffe.

Typically, it is recommended that you replace your shoes every 300-400 miles. It really does make a difference. I should have been better about tracking my weekly mileage, so I wouldn't have been running on dead soles for so long. Next time, I will plan ahead and take the time to try out a new shoe.

The right shoe can help you avoid injury and make running or any exercise far more enjoyable, so it’s worth a little leg work. Not to mention that it’s a reasonable financial investment to buy new shoes every 3-4 months.

My first tip is to do the arch test.

Wet your feet and then step onto a piece of card board. Step off and check out the marks left behind.

If you the space between your ball and heel is filled in (almost solid across), you have low arches.

If there is a thin line between the ball and the heel, but it is not totally filled in, you have a moderate arch.

If there is little to no line connecting ball to heel, you have a high arch.

Making sure you have proper arch support is very important when looking for a shoe, the higher your arch, the more support you need.

Another thing to check is your old shoes. Look at where they are most worn down on the soles to help determine where you need the most support.

Then I would recommend checking out the Shoe Dog-Shoe Finder on Road Runner Sports. It asks you many questions in order to determine the best shoes for you, and then offers you a wide selection of matches. It kind of rocks.

I like to look at the shoe reviews in runner’s world, but that is just to get an idea of what is out there, and what other people have enjoyed.

So now that you have an idea of your arch type and possible matches, I offer you something I think is essential: go to a great shoe store.

I often declare my love for Jack Rabbit Sports, but there are any others. This is what to look for:

Knowledgeable staff—who aren’t too pushy and just want to sell you stuff

A treadmill with a video camera. You should actually test your shoes by running, not just walking around the store for 30 seconds. The video really helps the staff assistant and you analyze your stride to determine your pronation and support needs. Nike operates a Runner's Station on 15th and the Westside highway that actually lets you test drive shoes and equipment--like the Nike+ Sport band. Plus they sell water and gus. They will ALSO let you store your stuff in lockers for FREE while you run!

Any good store will have a treadmill for you to use with similar technology. The Addidas Sports Performance Store will actually analyze your foot and design a custom made shoe for you.

Try many, many pairs. And at least two or three sizes. It will feel a bit like What Not to Wear, but you need to be able to compare.

Make sure you are totally happy, don’t feel pressured to buy a pair just because you need them or you feel like you took up a lot of the customer service person’s time. It’s okay!

Make sure the store has a good return policy. They should allow you to return/exchange your shoes even if you wore them once or twice.

Happy shopping!

Tomorrow is always another day.

So I decided not to run the half yesterday. I woke up with a headache, and it was pretty cold outside, so I elected to sleep in rather than try to muddle through 13 miles.

I am glad I did because I feel the best I have in over a week today. In a few minutes I am off to volunteer for Team in Training handing out information at a Nike Runner's booth near Chelsea Piers before meeting friends for a very late brunch.

Since my dvd player broke I have been relying on vhs tapes for my workout videos. I have Crunch Fat Burning Pilates and The Ultimate Video Workout by Kathy Smith. I have to say my 1986 Ultimate Video Workout rocks the house. It is really good and really challenging, mostly of endurance. I recommend it if you can find it on ebay and can handle bad 80's workout clothes.

This morning I did Ashley Simpson's workout from this month's issue of Shape. Pretty good, I worked up a sweat! I'll post it later if you want.

In other news, I am totally excited to have a new pair of Asics GT 2010. My old ones were so worn down, running felt like driving on a flat tire. Since I knew my size, I scouted several online sites, Road Runner Sports, Zappos, and then found them for $59 at The Finish Line website. I'm not a huge fan of the pink, but all the shoes I find attractive always turn out to be poor choices for my foot shape and running stride.



Can't wait to take them for a test drive! Paulo Nutini's song, new shoes, is stuck in my head right now. I am such a dork.

Oh, I am also excited to try a striptease workout class on Tuesday. More on why later!

Off to take the dog for a quick walk before heading out for the day. Enjoy your Sunday!

To half or not to half?

So much for getting back on track! Now I know why I hate to miss a day, lethargy is so comfortable. Actually, I have been feeling pretty crappy all week, canceling plans left and right. Despite plenty of sleep, I have been having killer headaches. Needless to say, I only made it to the gym once all week. And of course, I felt better than ever! I turn into a total bitch when I don't workout, my poor co-workers!

So here is the dilemma, do I try to run the brooklyn half tomorrow even though all day I just wanted to crawl into bed?

I actually feel a tiny bit better now--maybe that's because it is friday night. I think I will take Betsy's plan of attack and go for a mini run tonight and see how I feel. If it's not raining when I get up at 6:30am to make the hour and half subway ride to Coney Island, I might try to muddle through!

I am so tired of not feeling fabulous that I might just pretend to feel fine until my body gives up on this migraine misery!

I'll let you know how it goes!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!