It's FRIIIIIDAAAAY!!!

Happy Friday, also the eve of my 13th half marathon!  Tomorrow I'll be out and about at the crack of dawn to run my 3rd Brooklyn Half.   NYRR does a great job with this race, even though it's a pain to get to and I have to be up at 4am.  I also have PR'd every time I have ran it, although I'm not expecting much tomorrow.

Anyway....

Thing's I'm loving right now!

Trampolines!
I went to Skyzone for one of their Skyfit classes.  I have to say, I was expecting it to be easy, but it was pretty hard! The instructor even incorporated weights into the mix.  Definitely an awesome way to spend a birthday or a fun day date with the gals.

And if you can do this...even better!

Crossfit231
I'm back at it with a vengeance! A new box opened up at the end of my street, which means walking distance which also meant that I left Cobalt which I was loving, but was just not getting to. These guys are great, it's a bit of an older crowd which I really like.  Not that I am old, but it's nice to workout with people who are more my age (30's), also helps on the social angle.


8 pounds
Gone and NEVER coming back!  Now I just need to lose about 10 more.  I'm about 40 days off of wheat, life changing! Have I had trace amounts yes, but nothing obvious like a hunk of bread or a box of Cheeze-its.

What are you loving right now?

When Time Flies

Hmm..I'm not even sure where to start,  so much has gone in the past few months....March was really a blur, April was more of the same and now I'm at the end of May!

For starters, Chris's dad passed away in April which was difficult and emotional and brought us closer, but ultimately pulled us apart.  We are at different places in our lives and I guess the jig was up - we both knew that it was time to part ways.  I wish I could say that it ended well, sadly, it did not, but it's a few weeks later and we are both OK and not wishing each other ill will (whew!).


I ran two half marathons, the Long Island (2:11) and Brooklyn (2:07) which was a PR for me!

I  made the decision to leave my current job after 6 months of temping (about to go perm) when an amazing offer came my way.  I'm crossing fingers that I made the right decision, but I know for sure that there is some life lesson in this so I'm just going with it!

I have been running, a lot, totally not at the gym and excited to no longer have a 1 hour commute each way to work! That commute was killing me...

Soooo what's next....not sure, but I'm excited to see what the summer brings my way!

I'm also running the Fairfield half the end of June and really home for a 2:05 or better! 

Brooklyn Half Recap

Last Saturday I ran my 9th half marathon!!!  I still find it hard to believe that I run and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE long distance races.  Remember, I'm a former fat girl who used to drink beers and smoke butts.

I set out to run the Long Island half as a training run for Brooklyn, that little training run ended up being a PR so I now had even higher expectations for this race.  I went in with no sleep, was up at 4:30 in the car by 5 barely making it to the start on time...and I had to pee...bad!

Picture me in between these guys (image via google)

NYRR does an ahhhmozing job of setting up races so I was super surprised there were no porta-potties at the start, especially since 15k runners were running this race!  It was almost a bad scene but I took the cue of my male compadres and peed along a fence on Flatbush Ave behind the only fat tree I could find to somewhat cover my bare ass! It was do or die so I didn't care.  Even though I once almost crapped my pants during a race, I found a place to go, but it was a new scene having to pee in front of thousands.

Ok, back to the running.  I did manage to PR (2:08) but it was a tough race for me!  The last few miles were torturous, not at all like LI when I breezed through the last 3 miles.  I was struggling, but I managed to keep my pace somewhat steady and I kept reminding myself that I could do it.   Once we entered into the Coney Island section of Ocean Parkway I knew I was golden and that the PR was going to happen - now the question was by how much I would PR (2 minutes!!!)  I didn't care though, it was hot, I was done and I wanted the race to be over.

I have to say, although the 2nd part of the race was pretty boring (Ocean Ave for like 6 miles) it was so fun to run this race.  Ending on the Coney Island boardwalk was a blast and really energizing.  I will definitely run this again, unless of course NYRR changes the course distance like they did for Queens and the Bronx  which has really made me super mad (sorry NYRR, I considered unfriending you but instead liked someone else s nasty post about the changes).  I LOVE the half mary distance and was planning on KILLING Queens since I had such a crappy run last year. Oh well.

This week I've been taking it easy, I have a slight head cold and I'm running the Long Beach 10 miler on Sunday.  I squeaked in 2.5 miles before work so that was good and a run on Monday after work, better than nothing.

No Sleep 'Till BK

I love the Beastie Boys.  And I love Brooklyn so lets hope all the love I have for a tiny borough will carry me through the Brooklyn Half tomorrow!

I have some pretty high expectations for this race, considering I had an epic hill run on Weds (and shaved about a minute off my time) and my last half 2 weeks ago was a PR, I'm really thinking that I have a shot at a 2nd PR.  I know, I know, I shouldn't get too ahead of myself, especially since the NYRR has issued a heat advisory and I haven't ran in temps above 70 since last summer, but I just have a feeling :)

It's a pretty cool course that starts in Prospect park and ends at Coney Island. I'm heading over with some friends so I think a boardwalk stroll and a ride on the Cyclone might be in order. I'm pretty afraid of heights which I found out a few years ago while riding the Cyclone - so we'll see if I actually make it up there, lol!!


On a food note, things have been going really well.  I did have a bagel this morning which was partly due to laziness and not having anything prepared, it was good but not great and I'm super happy about that, the last thing I want is a bagel relapse! I'm feeling so great and am making really healthy choices, don't want ruin my good work! I'm going to rationalize this one my saying the carbs are good for my race tomorrow...(#lies).

Quick Monday Check in

Because I really need to work, and not play, today's post will be in bullets.

Lazy, yes?  Smart, also yes.

• The weight in: still have to do that, but I think I'm down 3.  This morning was hectic, Chris was still asleep, I was running late and the scale was under his side of the bed.  Will post tomorrow. (ed note: down 2.5 for a total of 165.5, holler!)
• Diet:  logged all my food, tried not to eat my "gym" calories (I guess I would call them activity points if I was doing WW).  Tried to make better choices over the weekend, hopefully I succeeded, minus the Thin Mints (damn you Girl Scouts of America!!!) and movie popcorn (damn you butter!).
• Pros: cooked all my breakfasts and dinners (except one), lunches were chopped salads.  Ate out only on weekend - Glenn's for breakfast, Thai and dinner with my parents.
• Cons: shitty attitude at work on Fri got me in a little bit of trouble.  Opps.  Lessons learned!
• Workouts: swam just over 400M, spin class, weights,  ran 3x - 2, 3 milers and a 5 miler.

And I just signed up for the Brooklyn Half! Wahooooo!