Garmin 10 at my doorstep—pay it forward

21. January 2015 · 4 comments · Categories: running, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Hi there!

How is your week going? I’m a bit frazzled at work and for some reason I’ve got lots of loose ends to tie up and my to-do list keeps growing. But I’ll survive 🙂 I managed to run this morning though before I went into the office.

Tuesday morning 3 miles

Tuesday morning 3 miles

The good news is that my energy was back and my legs felt fresh. The bad news is that my knee and hammy are still driving me nuts. Whatever! I swear I’m so sick of talking ’bout injuries.

Yesterday, since it was a holiday I knew that some of my favorite places to eat in the city would be less crowded. So I walked up to Grand Central Station and down to their dining concourse to my favorite little pita place.

Grand Central

Grand Central

Eata Pita

Eata Pita

Chicken Shish Kabob

Chicken Shish Kabob

I had the chicken shish kabob pita sandwich. So tasty!

Now let me back track a bit to Sunday. I was supposed to do my long run of 8 miles. Unfortunately I woke up to some mixed precipitation including freezing rain. So when I went to take Duncan for a walk the sidewalks and the roads were total black ice! I almost fell 3 separate times just walking super slow. I thought with the temperature rising from 32 to 41 that the ice would melt and I’d be able to still get out for my run late morning. But the temps didn’t climb fast enough and at noon there was still ice! I had to leave my house at 1:30 for a birthday party so I knew that my window to run had closed. Honestly I wasn’t too bummed. Y’all know my running has been difficult lately. So I thanked Mother Nature for giving me an unplanned rest day and let it go.

But here’s the most awesome part of the day on Sunday: When I got home after being out all day there was a package at my door. It was a package delivered from Amazon. I knew I didn’t order anything so I was curious what it was. Well, it was a Garmin 10!

Garmin Forerunner 10

Garmin Forerunner 10!

A friend caught wind of my Garmin 210 story and decided to basically do a random act of kindness and buy me a new watch! Yeah! Seriously! I’m floored! It was supposed to be totally anonymous but i guess Amazon didn’t get the memo. I’m actually glad I knew who sent it because I was able to send her a proper thank you!

The note enclosed with the card just said to enjoy and pay it forward. So now I’m all amped up thinking about who might be the recipient of my pay-it-forward inspired act of kindness….

Have you ever been the giver or the recipient of a random act of kindness?

About a month ago I was in a Chinese take-out restaurant in the city and there was a woman who wanted to buy a soda but only had credit cards. The cashier wouldn’t take it for a purchase of just $1. (She had already purchased her meal and was there for a while eating). So I paid for her soda. She was so thankful to me. It really is amazing what $1 can do. =)

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Running when your legs do not want to and Garmin funeral

17. January 2015 · 2 comments · Categories: recreational fun, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

Hi!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend! I’m currently recovering from 3 days straight of photography work. Thursday morning I went to take head shots for a company I used to work at a bazillion almost 20 years ago. I spent 3 hours there and shot about 50 or so people and was exhausted when I left. I gave my legs quite the workout with the step stool I used to help get me at the right height for my subjects. Next time I’ll tell them to come in size order! HA!. I’m guessing that this is why my legs didn’t want to work when I went for my run later two hours later.

Adobe Lightroom

processing the head shots

I had a 5 mile tempo on the schedule. I knew from the first block I wasn’t going to be able to run at tempo pace. My legs were SO HEAVY they just didn’t want to move at all. I finally bailed and returned home only covering off on 4 miles. C’est la vie.

craptastic run and don't I look like Medusa here? =)

craptastic run and don’t I look like Medusa here? =)

Yesterday afternoon I took the doodle for a walk. With him being sick and then me returning to work since the holiday break, we haven’t had a good outing in a while. He loved it! I loved it too until we spotted 3 deer. Well they spotted us first and started running away. Duncan started to chase them but he’s too chicken so he eventually returned back to me.

labradoodle

beer deer chaser

labradoodle nose

selfie!

labradoodle

Happy Dog!

frozen stream

frozen stream

Last night I was on my feet for 5 hours straight while taking pictures at an engagement party.

Nikon D300

This camera/lens is HEAVY!

the room looked beautiful

the room looked beautiful

forget us nots

This was very sweet

They were fun and polite people but very demanding as far as how many posed shots they wanted. I wasn’t prepared with a wide angle lens but they insisted on having a group shot of the entire side of the family. We’re talking 50+ people. I stood on a balcony and they all stood on a spiral staircase below and I did the best I could. I was standing on an armchair and freaking out because my balance is terrible. But they tipped me well so I’m over it =) Oh, and of course the best part about shooting events is scoring some sweets at the dessert table. That chocolate covered cream puff was so DELISH I should have taken a few more.

Sweets!

Sweets!

This morning I took photos for some real estate properties and then came home to finally RELAX! I’m just trying to do some foam rolling but I’m so exhausted and the dog doesn’t give me much motivation…

eventually i'll actually use the foam roller. Just 5 more minutes...

eventually i’ll actually use the foam roller. Just 5 more minutes…

I’ve already had some ibuprofen to ease my aching back. And last night when I got home from the engagement party I had a glass of wine to unwind.

my nightcap a.k.a. muscle relaxer

my nightcap a.k.a. muscle relaxer

Meanwhile my Garmin (I have the Forerunner 210 that I bought in 2011) just won’t seem to work. I’ve tried hard re-sets, soft resets, software re-installs. It just won’t track the activity distance and pace or save the activity.

Garmin 210 not working

Running for 43 minutes and I covered ZERO miles? Yeah…not exactly accurate.

The time will elapse though. So basically it’s just a watch now. I’ve spent a little time Googling the issue and on the Forerunner 220 it was a corrupt thingy and the solve was to power off and on. Well, no bueno on my model. I’m going to reach out to Garmin to see if there’s a way to resurrect my poor watch before giving it a proper funeral. But if it’s really done then I’m thinking about just going with the cheapest and simplest Garmin 10. Any advice, thoughts, suggestions?

I’m not big on football but I know tomorrow there’s a conference championship game on. We’re getting close to the Superbowl! Duncan’s ready! I’m ready for the snacks and commercials!

Superbowl ready!

Superbowl ready!

Well, I’m off to tend to some mundane stuff now. Laundry and dishes await. Have a great weekend!

Are you a big football fan? Favorite team? Do you do anything exciting for the Superbowl?

And if you have any Garmin advice please let me know.

 

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What are you willing to sacrifice to fit in a run?

14. January 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: running · Tags: , , , ,

Yesterday’s post was a bit serious. So I thought I’d be a little silly today.

What are you willing to sacrifice to fit in a run? OK this sounds quite dramatic right? Some might say they sacrifice blood, sweat and tears while trying to train for a marathon. Me? Oh, I just sacrifice clean hair. 🙂

big hair

#BigHairDontCare

Let me explain…

Until the sun starts to rise at 6:30am (which won’t be until the end of February!) I’ve decided my Tuesday runs will be on the treadmill at the gym near my office during my lunch break.

NYSC

New York Sports Club

We all know how spoiled Duncan is so I can’t bear to dip into his walking time in the morning with a clear conscience. And running in the dark, icy, cold is just not appealing to me.

My Tuesday run will only be 3 or 4 miles and even at a relaxed pace I can fit it in during my lunch break. Well, all except for the extra 10 minutes it would take to wash my hair and layer in the multiple frizz reducing, curl enhancing product. So yesterday, after running 3 miles at the gym, I showered without washing my hair! And you know what? I’m TOTALLY OK with that. I’m willing to sacrifice clean hair!

dreadmill

3 miles done

Today’s a rest day!

rest day

We take our rest day seriously!

What are your tips to make your exercise time most efficient? What are you willing to sacrifice?

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The Definition of Empathy

13. January 2015 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

I interrupt my regularly scheduled blog post programming with this:

em • pa • thy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Today the universe was telling me something. It was telling me to grieve just a little today. It was telling me to think of what I went through in the days leading up to April 19, 1999 and in the years since.

I have been subscribing to a Melanoma group email dating back to 1998 when my then boyfriend was first diagnosed with Melanoma. Needless to say all these years later I’ve never unsubscribed but rarely read the threads. I mostly just hit the delete button and carry on with my day. But today I read it. And a woman announced sadly that her husband Wayne lost his battle this morning. Wayne was diagnosed 14 years ago and I remember clearly trying to offer support although I was literally deep in my grief as I had only been widowed a year or so at that point. I’ve honestly not even thought of that couple since. So when I read the news today I was struck with an overwhelming feeling. The definition of empathy seems to describe my initial reaction. My eyes welled with tears. I knew in that moment what her next few hours, days, weeks, months and years would be like. I knew because I’ve lived it. Sometimes it’s frustrating to have feelings brought to the surface like that…especially that I’m so far down the road. But then I realize how important it is for me—and for her. I can help her when she might feel like nobody understands. I can help her see that she too can carry on and thrive in the future. And that makes my loss less painful and more understandable.

Every single day there is someone grieving over the loss of someone or something…the death of a loved one, a friendship that’s grown distant, a divorce, heck even a running injury that causes a race cancelation. We need to be empathetic where we can. I may not understand the grief felt by someone who’s lost a parent, or who is divorced, but I sure do understand the loss of a spouse to Melanoma.

So today I pulled out Dickey’s picture, kissed his forehead, told him I missed him and that he’s always with me and then I put that picture back in the box. I was meant to grieve just a little today…and I was meant to help others through my loss.

10156017_10203578143955880_3033698985117140879_nTomorrow I’ll get back to my regularly scheduled programming =)

Thanks for letting me share.

 

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