Smooth runner feet—Emjoi Micro Pedi

08. June 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: inspiration, recreational fun, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a lovely weekend. I celebrated my friend Lenny’s birthday and enjoyed his doggie duo. Belinda, the brindle boxer is still a puppy (about a year and a half) and so goofy! Look how she sits on her big brother Lu…

Belinda sitting on her big brother

Belinda sitting on her big brother

I melt

I melt

Happy Birthday Lenny.

Happy Birthday Lenny.

I also got in another 4 miler. It’s fairly hilly so I just worked on keeping my effort even while my pace slowed a bit. The best part about an out-and-back hilly route is you get to go DOWN those hills too!

what goes up must come down

what goes up must come down

another easy 4 miles

another easy 4 miles

we are both "stretching"

we are both “stretching”

Before I continue with this post I just wanted to share a post by my friend Roger.

such an inspiration!

such an inspiration!

He’s quite an amazing guy. He went from being morbidly obese and barely able to walk 3 miles to running the Boston Marathon and 7 years later he just decided to go run 32 miles. Read all about it here!

OK, now on to tell you about the Emjoi Micro-Pedi…

With summer on the way and sandals waiting to be worn I decided it was time to smooth out my heels. Usually I go the pumice stone route but the nice people at Emjoi gifted me a Micro-Pedi to try out. I figured I’d give it a whirl. (The Micro-Pedi was gifted to me but this post contains my own opinions and I was not paid to write it)

Emjoi-micro-pedi

Well hello?! That was fun! Seriously within a minute my heels were soft and all the dead calloused skin gone.

micro-pedi-beforeNow let me just mention I’m not training for anything right now so it’s the perfect time to get rid of my tough skin. I wouldn’t ever attempt this when logging high mileage during marathon training =)

micro-pedi-after

that’s my dead skin. Eeeeewwww!!! Make sure you do this over a towel! They give a little cleaning brush too and you can rinse the cartridge as well. (just don’t submerge the entire unit).

I used it mainly on my heels. I was shocked that it didn’t hurt or tickle. It was pretty painless and SO QUICK! The micro mineral roller is made from naturally processed stone that spins 30 times per second to break up, buff and remove callused skin from the feet.

micro-pedi-benefits

I absolutely agree with bullet #2.

I’ll definitely be using this again. The pamphlet that came with it said that you can use the same cartridge for a few sessions before replacing (for sanitary reasons do not share so buy one for your mom or your friend as a gift). If you want to buy a Micro-Pedi or replacement cartridges you can get them at emjoi.com but they’re cheaper on Amazon.

The Micro-Pedi works well with other attachments so you can take care of your fingernails and even your elbows!

The simply packaged version with one roller is $29.95 and there’s a spa-themed gift boxed version with 2 rollers for $39.95.

So now you’re in the know if you happen to be thinking about upgrading from manual foot smoothing tools.

 Tell me about your weekend!

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Staten Island Advance Memorial Day Run

27. May 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: recreational fun, running, Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

I’m exhausted from this weekend! But it was worth it!

Let’s see, I already told you about Saturday’s Spring Lake 5 miler that I spectated at. On Sunday, I went sailing with Mr. SOTSS and his family. We set sail around noon and returned in the evening just about sunset. It was so relaxing.

Sailing Sally Selfie

Sailing Sally Selfie

IMG_5726

My sweatshirt was a little big on her but she wasn’t complaining….it got CHILLY on the water =)

mr-sotss-sailing

Nope, that’s not the boat’s anchor….that’s MY anchor!

sailing-shells

Seashells

sailing2

Testing the waters by venturing to the side of the boat.

sunset

That’s a wrap

On Monday I ran the Staten Island Advance Memorial Day Run.

memorial-4-miler3 memorial-4-miler2It’s a small local 4 mile race. I ran it back in 2012 too. They had same day registration so I registered at 8:00am and the race started promptly at 9:00am. I bumped into my friend Cathy at the registration table and then I bumped into my friend Robyn and her son in the corral. I also bumped into this feathered family…

duck-famI held a pretty good pace and I’m very pleased with the finish especially considering my not so stellar start. I was so busy chatting with Robyn I didn’t connect my Garmin and when the race started I didn’t have time to get a signal and the walkers were behind me (with strollers and small children). I finally gave up on the Garmin and turned on my Runkeeper app on my phone but by the time I actually started the race I had to dodge and weave around lots of the walkers. While my Runkeeper has my time at 38:45 which would have been a 16 second PR) the official time was 39:40 which was the time on the clock when I crossed the finish. I guess they didn’t record chip time. It was a small race. Only 859 runners.

memorial-4-miler5

Taking a minute to enjoy the breeze and reflect on a lot.

Taking a minute to enjoy the breeze and reflect on a lot.

I’ve never trained for this race but i’m thinking maybe next year I will. I would like to shoot for 36 minutes next year.

I was interviewed for a blog post over at Fastblr. If you want to see what I (and a few other bloggers too!) have to say about my favorite running shoes you can check it out here.

Have you run any 4 mile races before? It’s a fun distance. 

What are your favorite running shoes?

Related posts:

  1. My goals for the NYC Marathon
  2. 36 more days!
  3. Smooth runner feet—Emjoi Micro Pedi

Busy Bee

11. May 2015 · 6 comments · Categories: recreational fun, running, sweet treats · Tags: , , , ,
Hi!
I’ve been so busy lately and haven’t had a chance to post in a while. My list of to-dos keeps getting longer rather than shorter. My day job is insanity and then on most evenings and weekends I have freelance work on top of that! And then there’s life—the other half of the work/life balance. Yep, I’ve been living it up lately 🙂 I had lots of fun stuff going on this weekend.
My niece turned 15 last week and I took her into the city on Saturday to celebrate.city-sushi-shopping
I told her how I felt like it was just last year that I was taking her to the American girl doll store. She’s not a little girl anymore but I am ok with it. I love the teenager that she has become and we have so much in common that I feel like I’m out with a friend or a sister. The day was filled with two of our favorites: shopping and sushi. Oh and we also went to this bakery where you can order a cookie shot. No vodka. This is milk in a warm chocolate cookie shot glass with melted dark chocolate at the bottom.
Cheers!

Cheers!

Sarah isn’t a runner but she is definitely an active person. She takes yoga/Pilates in high school for her required gym class which I think is so cool. And she loves going to classes like Soul Cycle and there’s one she insists I join her to called SLT (Strength Length and Tone). She also pitches on her high school softball team. And she loves to wear athletic gear. So we hit up Lululemon and the flagship Nike store. And then to top off our night we ate at KOI, an amazing sushi restaurant in mid-town.
I spent some time with Mr. SOTSS this weekend too. Sunday morning we had our coffee out on his deck enjoying the unseasonably warm weather (it’s been in the 80s which is a good 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year )
The dogs enjoyed chilling on the deck too

The dogs enjoyed chilling on the deck too. It’s like they have butt magnets. LOL!

We also each went for a run…

2-mile-run
I am limiting myself to 2 mile runs this week. I know I said I’d try and just cross train this week and not start running until the weekend but I just couldn’t find it in me to cross train at the gym. I almost took my bicycle out yesterday instead of running buy my rotator cuff is still a mess and I don’t know how steering and using the hand brakes would be. The whole arm is quite weak and stiff and can’t take on too much weight.
The ankle tendonits seems manageable at the moment, so my compromise is 1-2 short runs this week and some walking. Plus my stretching and foam rolling.
After our runs we went to my brother’s house for a Mother’s Day brunch and then, in the late afternoon we spent some time with the pups at the beach.
One of us knows how to look at the camera for a picture and the other blogs.

One of us knows how to look at the camera for a picture and the other blogs.

Mr. Sweat Out The Small Stuff in Shades...say that 10X fast. And then say "Sally sells snail shells" too.

Smiley Mr. Sweat Out The Small Stuff in Shades…say that 10X fast. And then say “Sally sells snail shells” too.

Pretty little snail shell

Pretty little snail shell

While temps inland had reach the mid 80s it was between 65-70 at the beach. Perfect for waking along the water. The only fly in the ointment wasn’t a fly but a tick…actually a few ticks. Yuck yuck yuck! I loathe those things. We gave the dogs a good look over and hopefully we got all those buggers. They get monthly preventatives too just in case. Later on in the evening we were back out on the deck for a little barbecue dinner and some frozen strawberry daiquiris. 🙂

drinks-patio

drinks to match the patio furniture

MMMMMM!

MMMMMM!

Duncan had one too many….

I should have stopped at one drink...

I should have stopped at one drink…

I’m signed up for the Brooklyn Half Marathon this coming Saturday and I’m really wrestling with whether I should be running it. I’m not going to make any decisions until the end of the week. And I do plan on going to the expo to get my bib so I will be prepared either way.
There are a lot of things to consider:
1. Status of my current healing progress of injuries: My ankle and hip are not 100 percent although the knee is.
2. Logistics: It’s a point to point course with a huge field of runners (30,000 runners I think) and two waves that are about 30 minutes apart. So since most of my friends will be in the first wave I might miss them or I might need to arrive that much earlier to see them and then sit around. And that means needing to find doodle sitting since I’ll be gone for 8 or more hours.
3. Potential consequences of running a half after barely running since my full 2 weeks ago: I am running a 5k the next day that I don’t want to be crippled for.
So you see why I have turmoil. Oh and let’s not forget that I had to bail on this race last year due to injury and that’s the one driving force that is making me stew about still running. I don’t want to miss it 2 years in a row 🙁
I’ll keep you posted.
So how was your weekend? Were you a busy bee or a relaxed chickadee?
Do you do the pro/con list to help make decisions. 

 

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I’m still recovering and being kind to my feet

02. May 2015 · Write a comment · Categories: labradoodle, recreational fun, Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

I can’t believe it’s been just about a week since I ran the New Jersey Marathon and I am finally feeling like I can walk normally! But I’m still not ready to run. I’m not even ready to do any form of cardio really. My cross training has consisted of walking with Duncan and a little mall shopping.

This morning's walk complete with coffee and the doodle

This morning’s walk complete with coffee and the doodle

Hot on the trail for a squirrel

Hot on the trail for a squirrel

I’ve still got some problem spots that started to bother me just a few days before the marathon. There’s the ankle….you know the one i’ve now injured 4 times! I can feel some mild tendonitis lingering and am being VERY careful to let it rest and not end up where I was last year. And this new issue is my hip. It’s on the same side that my knee was bothering me so I’m wondering if it’s just more quad/IT hamstring tightness that’s causing the pain but now at the top instead of down at the knee. Sigh! I don’t feel the pain sitting but I definitely feel it when walking. I’m hoping to ease into some type of exercise next week….I’ll try the stationary bike and the elliptical and see if either seems comfortable. But I’m not going to run for at least another week which is so hard to do because the weather here is perfect!

Sweet budding tree and blue skies

Sweet budding tree and blue skies

So while mall shopping I got myself some “dressy” sneakers. Since I don’t always like to wear sandals in the warmer months (especially in dirty NYC) I wanted some sneakers that were comfy but didn’t scream athletic footwear. Enter these cute Easy Spirit and Sketchers slip-ons…

They've got memory foam! LOVE

They’ve got memory foam! LOVE

My "dressy" sneakers.

Rubber sole = sneaker in my book

On another foot note  I was sent some socks from a company called Kushyfoot. While they were sent to me free of charge I am not being paid to write about them. I just really liked them and thought I’d share. They have sewn in padding right under the toes/ball of foot area. I have worn 2 different styles. One is an ultra low cut foot cover that can be worn with my new “dressy” sneakers or even ballet flats. And the other are the athletic foot cover which is like a sportier “sockier” version.

Kushyfoot-polkadot

Their packaging is a little dated looking but I like the socks.

polka-toe-covers

I love that nobody will know i’ve got these cuties on under my shoes.

Kushyfoot-toepadding

This is a close up of the padding. It REALLY helps with my metatarsal neuroma issue under my middle toe.

kushyfoot-bottom

Can you “spot” the padding?

Kushyfoot-athletic

Athletic foot covers….

kushyfoot-atheltic2So while my body continues it’s marathon recovery resting period I’ll enjoy comfy feet. Duncan is happy to join me resting up.

We walked for a half hour and then he slept for 3 hours #typical

We walked for a half hour and then he slept for 3 hours #typical

I’m looking forward to feeling better and being active again. In the meantime I’m reminding myself how important it is to listen to my body. Hopefully I don’t continue mall shopping for cross-training because I won’t be able to afford it. 🙂

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend.

What are your most comfortable shoes?

Do you love shoes that you can’t wear because of foot problems?
I need to have a roomy toe-box so I can’t really wear ballet flats.

 

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