Tag Archives: Peanut

Things I Dig

4 April 2013

3 Comments

Every now and again I come across something that I absolutely cannot believe I’ve been living without and refuse to ever let go. My iPhone is one. My Dior Show mascara is another. Don’t judge. It makes me look far more awake than I usually am.

Not all of us are as naturally beautiful as Peanut.

Not all of us are as naturally beautiful as Peanut.

I have a reeeeeally hard time investing in new gear but when I find something I love, I fall hard and I fall fast. And I tell everyone. And now I’m telling you.

These days I am loving a things mostly related to running. Shocker.

Saucony Kinvara 3

I wanted a lighter, speedier shoe and I found that Saucony Kinvaras are my jam.

I wanted a lighter, speedier shoe and I found that Saucony Kinvaras are my jam. And the color cannot be beat.

I love a lighter shoe. I don’t have foot problems so I don’t need any motion control or extra cushioning. I have my run-of-the-mill medium arch insoles, nothing special. These Kinvaras make me feel fast.

Morning Runs

The first light of day.

The first light of day.

Who knew I could get used to waking up and running out the door before dawn? Sometimes I get up but don’t get out. Win some, lose some.

Fresh Teal 

Preeeeetty

Preeeeetty

This is our lululemon Team Lunatics color for the New Jersey Half/Full Marathon, by popular vote: Fresh Teal. We will look very pretty and very spring-y crossing the finish line on the Jersey Shore!

Oakley Women’s Urgency Sunglasses

Do these sunglasses make me look fast?

Do these sunglasses make me look fast?

They’re cute, they’re comfy, and I love them.

Foam Roller

So cliche.

So cliche.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, everyone loves the foam roller. For me, it’s a post-run must given that my legs have been feeling like rocks after workouts. Ouch.

Name Tags

What's that I see? My hospital name tag. Yeah, baby!

What’s that I see? My hospital name tag. Yeah, baby!

What can I say? I still get kinda giddy about forward motion where my PT career is concerned. Nerd.

This

This.

Always this.

What’s new in your world that you love? Tell me what my new obsession should be. Well, besides the fabulous trip to Acapulco that you could win by participating in my Kick Ass 5K on Tuesday.

Now go out and run!

PS. Aside from my Ambassadorship with lululemon, I was not compensated for this post. Though, I wouldn’t be angry if Saucony wanted to send me those Kinvara 4s that everyone else got this week…(hint, hint).

Better Than the Alternative Tuesdays: Weight

19 February 2013

2 Comments

Guys, I’m in midterm week month, so blogs may be shorter or non-existent until things settle down over here in Crazy Town. But it’s Tuesday so let’s not forget why it’s good to be here instead of the alternative.

Weight.

It’s become a nasty word in the world these days, wouldn’t you say?

Gaining weight. Weight of the world. Light-weight.

It’s not too long ago that the word weight carried a negative connotation to me as well. Yet recently, I’ve begun to embrace it.

What is weight to you? (Image courtesy of shutterstock.com)

What is weight to you?

There is nothing more comforting or calming to me than to feel the weight of my husband against me.

A hug, a hand, or when he is recruited to be my blanket because I just can’t get warm enough in the winter. I breathe easier, my heart rate slows down, and I almost always fall asleep.

Something about the weight of my hand in his.

Something about the weight of my hand in his.

When I was recovering from surgery, it was all about the weight. Was I eating? Was it leaving me properly in my new device? Too fast? Too slow? Was I gaining weight?

Despite one person’s comment that my 20 pound weight loss was (after a 5-day hospital stay and one organ removed) “looking good” on me, gaining weight was a top priority post-op. Both times post-op, actually.

GI surgery means things get scary in that world and weight gain = success!!! Normally a dirty phrase in my world, I was thrilled to see the scale headed back toward my normal.

I was healthy again. Weight was a good thing.

Feels good to be healthy again.

Feels good to be healthy again.

And there is nothing in the world that feels better than having the weight of a baby on your shoulder as you rock her to sleep.

My little angel niece.

My little angel niece.

My sister-in-law was always asking if it was too much for me to have her lying on me or if she was heavy in my arms. Heavy? Psh. Weight is no matter when my little Peanut needs to be rocked to sleep. I shooed her away and held Peanut as long as I possibly could.

Like Obi-wan says, there is no house so peaceful as the house of a newborn baby.

I don’t mind feeling the weight anymore. It reminds me to be calm, to be grateful, to be present. And that’s certainly Better Than the Alternative.

Now go out and run.

Wednesday Workout: I Don’t Wanna

30 January 2013

6 Comments

I usually enjoy my workout days. I like working hard. I like short, fast workouts.

Not today. Maybe I should have taken the Deathly Hallows-looking park entrance as a sign.

Weeeeeird fog at the park entrance this morning. Ominous side or just cool air + warm park lake? You decide.

Weeeeeird fog at the park entrance this morning. Ominous side or just cool air + warm park lake? You decide.

I felt ok warming up and getting to the park but not my usual ready-to-go self after a mile warmup. I blame last night’s 2 mile plus weights at the gym. And sleeping like crap on Sunday night. And I was running on rolling hills, not a flat track. And I am still building back up, not maintaining.

Or maybe it was just a crappy workout.

Craaaaaazy humidity this morning! Not that this matters so much in my pace but, who knows.

Craaaaaazy humidity this morning! Not that this matters so much in my pace but, who knows.

I loved the weather and could not be happier to have my runs done in the morning instead of the afternoon. I just couldn’t get going on my mile repeats. I didn’t bring a watch (thank God) but I definitely was working hard regardless of my pace.

I did 2 repeats with a mile in between to catch my breath. So I met my mileage for the day but didn’t complete all 3 mile repeats. Sigh.

Do you think Peanut will think less of her Aunt Abby because I didn't get all my mile repeats in? I don't. She just loves the shoes I bought for her and that's all she knows.

Do you think Peanut will think less of her Aunt Abby because I didn’t get all my mile repeats in? I don’t. She just loves the shoes I bought for her and that’s all she knows.

 

I just didn’t wanna.

I was tired and weighed my options. I could push through the third repeat and probably go so slowly that it would no longer be a benefit to increasing my speed OR I could jog out between sets, give the 2 my all, and head home.

I chose the latter. Because tomorrow is another day and I got stuff to do.

Beastly. Sweaty. Happy to be done.

Beastly. Sweaty. Happy to be done.

And that’s what it really comes down to for me. If one workout sucks, I cut my losses and move on. I got my mileage. I worked hard. I knew I was done.

Know when you’re done. The likelihood that the one repeat I didn’t is going to majorly affect your race time is absurdly non-existant. Get over it. Be done. Try again tomorrow.

How was your Workout Wednesday? Did you rock it or was it a struggle like mine? I hope you guys are all enjoying this Indian Summer and getting outside. Have you ever thrown in the towel during a workout because you were just done? Please tell me I’m not the only one…

Now go out and run!

Go the Distance

14 August 2012

9 Comments

First off, thank you all for your kind words of encouragement yesterday. It’s overwhelming to receive such an outpouring of support from so many and I’m grateful for each and every one of you who read, commented, and “liked” my “coming out of the bathroom” post. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me–it has! Five pounds of colon, to be exact :)

Colon-free and kicking ass!

Now when I go to wipe my face with my shirt in Central Park, I won’t be so shy about Rosebud showing because all of you will be like, “What? It’s just an ostomy. NBD.” (No Big Deal for the short-hand illiterate like myself)

This past weekend, I ran NYC’s Summer Streets with several of my lululemon friends and family. We ran about 13 miles down and over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was glorious!

This is actually from last year, but you get the idea. Awesome views from the bridge!

As we trekked down Park Avenue with several hundred other runners, we chatted about life, running, training, and what-not. The miles ticked on by and before we knew it, we were turning around, barely winded and ready to head back uptown.

Grand Central Station, where did you come from? Only one mile left!

I haven’t felt so relaxed on a long run in ages! No bathroom break panics, no oh-my-God-it’s-so-hot-I-gotta-stop-before-I-die moments, no “are we there yet?!” moaning and groaning. Just 13 chatty, easy miles.

In order to go the distance of a marathon (or any other race), you gotta go the distance in your weekly workouts. Long runs aren’t meant to be speedy, they are meant to be long. I have a strict rule that I must feel good at the end of a long run, not dead dog tired.

Save the speed for your Yasso 800s and tempo runs. Save the marathon goal pace workouts for the middle of the week. Save the sprinting for the finish. Use your long runs to go long, go easy, and finish feeling like you could have gone longer.

That’s how Kara Goucher trains. And we all wanna run like Kara, don’t we? (again, I have to credit Erica for this awesome photo)

Matt Fitzgerald over at Competitor Magazine found that most elite athletes do more than 2/3 of their workouts at significantly slower than race pace. The goal is to run and keep running.

“Studies on the training intensity distribution of elite runners have found that most elite runners run at low intensities most of the time. For example, a survey of male and female runners who competed in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Men’s and Women’s Marathons revealed that the men did almost three-quarters of their training slower than their marathon race pace, while women did more than two-thirds of their training at slower paces.”

Sum it up: No burn out.

Promise you, this is the way to train for your marathon and enjoy training for your marathon. After all, it is the journey, isn’t it? What are you waiting for, grab a friend and hit the road!

One handed! Peanut will be my running buddy very soon. And from the looks of it, my shopping buddy, too!

Now go out and run.

Workout Wednesdays

4 July 2012

2 Comments

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you and your families are enjoying a relaxing day at the beach/BBQ/picnic/block party/rooftop lounge. The fireworks are set to begin here in NYC very soon. It is always a spectacular scene on the rivers. Be safe, everyone!

Red, White & Sparkly Soul Blue while I study!

In the spirit of letting freedom ring, when was the last time you gave yourself the freedom to just run for the sake of running? The freedom to go for as long or as short as you like, to make a turn onto a different street, to go clockwise instead of counterclockwise.

Now that marathon training season is underway (so says Twitter), runners are holding fast and tight to their prescribed workouts, terrified to deviate lest they ruin their chance to PR or simply finish. But don’t you have days when you just can’t get through six miles? When an easy four sounds more doable and more enjoyable?

I say LET FREEDOM RING.

Peanut representin’ the US of A!

The freedom to change your workout if you want to. The freedom to run farther than your schedule says to go that day if you’re feeling it. The freedom to turn around at two miles because today just isn’t the day. The freedom to go at night after work instead of at 5am when you need that extra hour of sleep.

The freedom to dress up like a Civil War veteran in a midtown Manhattan hotel. We don’t judge.

The freedom to choose a new running path.

The freedom to choose any new path.

Let {running} freedom ring, friends. Ring loud.

Now go out and run!