Lost in the Bermuda Triangle..

Well not really, but when I was flying over StThomas/Miami/Cuba route on Sunday I did remember my childhood obsession of that triangle..

I ran on the beach this am in Grand Cayman. I've never run on the beach before, honest.

It was HARD.

I ran in sneakers (my ankles are weak?) and was scared to run without sneakers (last minute change). I ran 28 min in total and was beat. It also is hotter than anything here- 80 and 85% humidity at 7 am. YIKES.

Do you run on the beach? With or without sneakers? Often? Do you find it super challenging?

More blogging to come sooner rather than later....

My last run

So I havent run in a while, well not consistently. I have been using the dreaded elliptical (which Ive come to not mind lately). I am itching to run again.

Last night I went on a 3.6m run/walk with my boss. I talked the whole time and had no issues with the hills and talking in CP. That made me feel really strong. I couldve run more but was time constrained on the back end and we started really late since we both got caught up at work. For whatever reason it was nice to feel 'strong'.

I am currently up, headed to the gym, and then will continue on with some errands. I need to pack myself and my bf and get ready for my work trip which is tacked onto vacation. It's a lot of bags to say the least. And a lot to remember between vacation, a wedding and a work trip. All int he Caribbean mind you. Work attire in the Caribbean is tricky. I also need to stop by the office and catch up on a few things, clean my desk, AND get my pc. Somehow making sure I was fully organized yesterday was super overwhelming. The nail place I love (and need to go to) is over there anyway so I figured, hell whats the difference.

I am super excited for warm weather. I am bringing my running shoes, skirt and a few tops. Some tennis stuff too and will wash it out as necessary. I only brought 3 outfits and we'll be in Virgin Gorda/St Thomas for 7 days. Not a great ratio, but hey, we'll hike and swim and be active and I am so excited. I am also excited to lounge and sleep.

This week was a weird busy one for me. Monday I did weights for 45 min. Tuesday I missed bc I was exhausted and wanted to run outside. Wednesday I had my trainer and did 30 min elliptical. Last night I ran for call it 40 odd minutes. I am headed to the gym now to get 30 min of elliptical in and then an hour of weights w the trainer. It's the best I can do right? Well honestly, for this week it felt like it. I was at work from 830-9 Monday, 730-9 Tuesday, 9-10 Wednesday and then yesterday was an easy day clocking in from 845-730.

Anyway back to running. I might be here for the womens 10-k now so I am hopefully going to sign up for that soon. I need more goals though, tangible, soon-ish ones!!!

Another week flew by!

I had a very full workout week. I did yoga Saturday, spin Sunday, weights Monday, cardio Tuesday, weights Wednesday and will run tonight. I have a trainer session tomorrow and Saturday I will be on vacation :)

Enjoy the time I'm away!

Some running and reminiscing about a cleanse

On Day #1 of the Cleanse I legit thought I would die. I was dizzy, hot, cold, clammy, downright miserable. I even ate avocado off the 'cheat sheet' because I was so damned hungry. Day #2 I started with a banana, ran 30 min and felt great so I stuck with the cleanse. By the end of the day I had so much energy and just felt GOOD. Day #3 I wasn't going to do. I was busy, I had lunch plans. I had a veggie egg white omelet and wanted to gag. I drank juice all pm and had steamed string beans with 1/2c of brown rice for dinner. This am I ordered juice from the gym, brought a leftover juice (yesterdays) and really wish I had more juice. We're going to a fancy dinner tonight and all I want is juice.

Part of me wants to juice for next week before vacation. My stomach is flatter, I feel great. I worked out for an hour yesterday with the trainer and did an hour of cardio this am and honestly, I feel great. I feel like I have energy and like idk.

Today I wish I was drinking juice.

There is something comforting about knowing exactly what you are having and when you are having it. there is something comforting to me about knowing your calories and nutrients. these blueprint cleanse people are on to something.

I am lucky. I can afford to buy these, clearly they are a luxury and are quite expensive... I really don't know what to do. Should I or shouldnt I?

Not following my baseline

So, if you've been reading my blog for a while, or if you know me, you'll know I'm quite finnicky about what I eat. I believe in being healthy but also enjoying life. I love large dinners and wine but also eat mostly vegan on a day to day basis...  I enjoy raw restaurants, will pick fresh fruit as a snack 9 times our of 10 and really do like how I feel when I'm exercising. I don't like chemicals or hormones in my food and make real attempts to avoid this. I've read all the crazy healthy people books like Fast Food Nation, In defense of food, and some crazier ones like the China Study.

At the same time I have been known to eat a sleeve of Oreos (honestly not since I had swine flu in Feb 2010) and overeat so much my stomach is distended.

I also, do not believe in fasting, "dieting" or restricted calories in a danger level. Before a month ago, I wouldve told you, I don't believe in cleanses.

Now, I've read a lot online, I've heard Dr. Oz preach and I've also read about all the fanatics. I believe that to truly cleanse, the body does a decent job. If you want to reset your metabolism (if you will) or just 'start fresh' I do think limited diets can be helpful. However, once when I was not as skilled/knowledgeable as I am now, I did Master Cleanse and almost passed out day #1.

Ironically, I am currently doing Blue Print Cleanse for 3 days with a co worker. I got the idea from my boyfriend who used it to jumpstart healthy eating before starting a diligent workout plan... and he was pretty solid while doing it. He wasnt sick or tired and he didnt feel weak or out of it.

We are doing the excavation cleanse which is the most stringent. Its 900 calories, as such, I'm adding in an avocado, a cucumber and a sweet potato (the avocado is on the cheat sheet) to make sure I'm closer to 1200. Apparently day #1 is tough, day #2 is awesome. If I don't feel OK tomorrow, I won't continue. I also want to do yoga tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

I need a schedule for working out so here goes:
Monday- 1 hr w the trainer
Tuesday- OFF
Wednesday- yoga for 1 hr
Thursday- 3m run, 1 hour with trainer
Friday- 4m run
Saturday- yoga
Sunday- 60 min spin

Not the best plan but not the worst. I liked the break off running. It's nice to skip a week every now and then!

More half marathon RACE REPORT

Here is my not so exciting race report:


My splits:
m1-11:11
m2-10:37
m3-10:34
m4-11:15
m5-11:24
m6-10:35
1:15 bathroom break
m7-10:55
m8-10:50
m9-10:53
m10-11:27
m11-11:13
m12-10:43
m13-10:26
0.1-00:58

Overall my time was 2:24. Not terrible for this slow-poke.

We started on the west side near w64th street which means that the m1 marker was on e 68th street as was m7, mile marker 2 and 8 were at e85th street, mile markers 3 and 9 were on e 104thish street, mile markers 4 and 10 were right past the 102 transverse, mile markers 5 and 11 were near w86th street, mile markers 6 and 12 were right by the start and m13 was on e72nd street.

If I re-order my splits here is what they look like-

Here is my not so exciting race report:

My splits:

m1-11:11     m7-10:55

m2-10:37     m8-10:50

m3-10:34     m9-10:53

m4-11:15     m10-11:27

m5-11:24     m11-11:13

m6-10:35     m12-10:43

                    m13-10:26

                    0.1-00:58

Looking at it this way it's not that bad. Although only the m5/11 had a 'negative' split (when compared against each other) My first 6 miles were run in 65:36 and my second 6 miles were run in 66:01 so pretty close albeit it not negative. My average pace during the first 6m was 10:56 while my second seven miles averaged 11:05ish. Oh well. 

Overall the half marathon was awesome. The expo was meh but I did try Silk Chocolate 'milk' and it was awesome which was worth the expo in and of itself. It was downtown which was a bit of a pain but that was that. I got to the start super early on Sunday. To be honest, I prefer Saturday races, get them done with. It was pretty cold on Sunday esp because it was so early in the am but warmed up a ton so I wore my NIKE wind vest and cropped pants with a cap which was perfect. It was nice and sunny but there was def some wind. 

What a difference though with a field of all women. No pushing, no meanness, lots of cheering, the porta potties even smelled pretty clean, It was amazing. The race was organized, started on time and just had a good vibe. A lot of women ran in groups and I was jealous I was alone. Also of note was how many spectators there were! SUCH a nice change!! I loved that. The park was packed and the field was pretty large. I also loved how far up I was in the field. SUCH a nice change as well. 

The run overall was nothing to really write about. I know that sounds silly but it was me working with what I had, some training but not a ton and I woke up with a not great stomach after a super busy Saturday. Never a good combo. The first 6 m I really tried to just run and take a break when I needed one but never really slowed down much past my pace. I didn't really have a goal but didn't want it to be worse than 2:26. If I hadn't stopped to pee (full bladder but made it quick because I held it until I hit an open portapottie near the start where there were a ton of them) my time would've been 2:22:30 which is on par with the Bronx half this summer. Now, clearly that was a Bronx bomb (can't help the joke!) but I was in such good shape then so I'm pretty proud that I made it through the winter in not such shitty shape. This is the first race of the season after a tough winter for me in terms of work, foot and some medical things last fall that made me quite out of commission. 

I only had two gels and they were Crank gels. I really do think the extra calories in them are worth it. I also had a ton of Gatorade which was great too. I love when races have Gatorade. Because the 15k didn't have it which was crazy. Anything exceeding 10k should have Gatorade. 

I am not sure what my next race is. Any suggestions?  I thought I'd be out of commission but now that my foot wart problem is healed (plantars wart on my cushion of my foot which I thought I would have to get cut out but now do not) I can run at my hearts desire. 

My only plans:

Bronx half

Gretes Gallop

WHAT ELSE DO YOU SUGGEST?

Also, I am taking the week off running. What do you do when you've just run a 'big' race?

Time flies!

It's been over a week since my last post -clearly indicative of how busy I've been.

Long story short I owe a post about the More half marathon from last weekend. In summary, not a bad race- 2:24. My best CP race was clockwise directionally and was 2:20. My Manhattan half in 2009 was a counterclockwise like the More and was a 2:25 so that was encouraging (even if it was freezing that day).

Last week I worked out every day but Thursday and Saturday. This week so far I have not skipped a day and I am not sure if I will. I know I need rest but yoga is basically rest. Actually Sunday I'm goign to a yoga conference so that's a rest day.

More to follow. Switched to an hour of trainer sessions (vs 30 min max program) and its exhausting!

Onwards and upwards my friends. No running this week to give my legs a 'rest'. That's what I will do each time I runa  'heavy' race. Week off, rest the legs.

Race report to follow. I promise.