So I just noticed that June 13th was my 2nd blog anniversary. I’m 5 days late! OOpsie! It’s crazy to think I’ve stuck with this for 2 years already. My life has changed so much in the last 2 years but one thing that hasn’t changed is my love of running and of course I still stand firm that it’s the best way for me to sweat out the small stuff!
Yesterday morning I met my friend Robin for a 5 mile run along the boardwalk. By 9am I had reached 10,000 steps. Love those kind of mornings.
I love the sun sparkled water and of course my favorite Verrazano Bridge!
My nephew turned 17 on Tuesday. It’s crazy to think he’s not that little toddler on the left anymore.
birthday boy! (and photo bomb from his dog Casey)
I’m taking a rest day today. It’s actually good running weather—cool and rainy—but I know I need the rest so I will refrain and stretch and foam roll instead.
Last weekend my boyfriend’s daughter had a dance recital. It made me a little nostalgic so in honor of #throwbackthursday here is one of my very adorable recital shots =)
Me and my 2 left feet
And before I leave you all to get some work done I just thought I’d share this pic of Duncan from last night. He was in his “Northern Exposure” phase and pulled out a buffalo and Bullwinkle the Moose. HA HA!!!!
Duncan
Hope you all have a super day!
What did you eat for breakfast today?
I had peanut butter and apricot preserves on whole wheat toast and COFFEE!
Here’s the thing. I know I must have said this before but I’ll say it again. Running is so much more than the miles that your feet cover. Today as a non-running runner, I had so many happy moments that it almost became insignificant that I didn’t actually run 13.1 miles.
Of course it wouldn’t have been half as fun without Elvia, my fellow injured running peep, sharing the morning of spectatorship (is that even a word?) with me.
unplanned…we both decided to go with “spectator pink”
It started this morning at 6:30am. I got up, dressed, took the dog out quick and then drove from Staten Island into Brooklyn over my favorite bridge where I parked and hopped on the subway to get out to Coney Island.
VZ Bridge
By 8:15am I hopped off the subway and made my way up toward where Elvia was parked.
Iconic Nathans
We walked up onto the boardwalk right past the finish where they were giving out the finishers’ medals.
It was fairly early still but I happened to notice a Facebook friend’s dog. Long story but through the worlds of labradoodle and running I became “friends” with someone on Facebook. He had just finished running and his fiancé and their dog (who is a bigger version of Duncan) were there to greet him and take pictures. Always so awkward to say “hey we’re friends on Facebook”. Anyway, I chatted with them for a bit and then Elvia and I got busy tracking our friends. For whatever reason Elvia’s phone was working well while mine was having a hard time connecting to a signal (and we’re BOTH Verizon!) so she was the official tracker. All of a sudden it started to pour but we were right by a bar/restaurant with an awning so we grabbed ourselves some cocktails and sat under the awning to stay dry.
cocktails before 9am.
Lucky for us the rain stopped just before we saw our first friend was approaching mile 13.
And so for the next hour we continued to greet our runners with loud cheers (i think the margarita might have made me a little extra punchy 😉 and photo snaps.
First up was Robin…
Elvia and Robin have been friends for 15 years.
She actually took a little detour to run down her childhood block and still managed to break 2 hours.
Next up was Mike…
Mike!
I don’t think I’ve seen Mike since February so it was nice to see him for a bit. And then it was Lisa…
A left armed selfie since my right arm still won’t go high enough =) And notice how Lisa matches too?! I just noticed the photobomber in turquoise. LOL.
The volunteer was so nice he helped Lisa get over to where we were. Her own personal escort =)
She was so relaxed you’d never know she just ran 13 miles.
And then smiley Jorge…
Just before we left to go meet up with everyone at the designated post-race spot I said to Elvia that there were two runners from Staten Island that I was hoping to catch—Michelle (NYC Running Mama) and Jen (Mom’s Gotta Run). So we quickly tracked them on the livetracker site and saw they were literally approaching the finish line! Sure enough not a minute later I saw Jen and Michelle walking down the chute to get their medals. And Elvia and I SCREAMED their names!!!!
Friends help friends get PRs =)
I knew Michelle was coaching and pacing Jen and that Jen’s goal was sub 2. I also knew that Michelle always has that infectious smile so when I saw the smile I still had to ask….how’d it go? Jen not only beat her sub 2 goal but she PR’ed by 2 minutes. 1:56:xx. The were just the cutest. Walking arm in arm. I’m glad I got to be one of the first to congratulate them.
runner bloggers X3
Priceless!
And then it was off to the Brooklyn Cyclone’s baseball stadium to meet up with everyone and listen to some music. We finally connected with Cindy.
After party! Photo courtesy of Elvia.
Injured rotator cuff twins! Photo courtesy of Elvia.
So you see—half marathons are fun whether you run them or not =) But no worries…..i’ll be back to running them in September.
My weekend has been a roller coaster of ups and downs and I only have my love of running to thank for getting me through it. OK well maybe some emails with Mr. SOTSS (a.k.a. Mr. Calm and Smart and Practical and Helpful….I love him!). Oh and of course good times with old friends and a whole lotta sangria helped me too. #keepinitreal
So let’s backtrack. Friday morning I trekked into the city for my 6th visit with Dr. Williams. We worked on my upper quad/groin area and he helped separate a muscle that was “sticky”. I already have appointment #7 set up. So much for “we can fix you in 3-4 visits”. My friend Lisa who also went to Dr. Williams said he said the same thing to her. LOL! But she was fixed eventually. And I will be too! I met the boy for a quick lunch before heading back home. Mind you it was the first official day of Spring and we got hit with about 4 inches of snow!
Very pretty but I had already packed up my shovel and ice scraper for the season.
Hello Spring!
I laid low for the rest of the night knowing I had a 5 am wake up call so I could get myself out to Queens to work at the Queens 13.1 race Saturday morning.
I think he wanted me to turn off the lights
Just relaxing
Saturday morning i sprung up and went outside to warm up the car and clean the snow off of it. I didn’t have a chance to eat breakfast but did bring a travel mug of coffee for the hour long ride to Queens. I arrived to a winter wonderland around the World’s Fair Grounds and reported to duty.
My favorite bridge
View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Queens Expressway
Yup, without fail there’s always a new month to begin when one ends. Time doesn’t stop. Life is a continuous journey. There might be some detours or very “slow lane” days but we’re always moving forward at some speed.
I’ve obviously had a detour with my tendonitis forcing me to sweat out the small stuff in a new way. Yesterday I pushed a little further and completed 13 miles for a new PDR (personal distance record) on the bike! (meanwhile I just saw in my Facebook feed that my friend Alex rode his bike 108 miles today. Cray cray!)
personal distance record on a bike.
I’m liking the bike but I really do miss running (21 days running without running!). Hoping that when I go back for my re-check at the foot doctor in 11 days (not that I’m counting or anything) I get cleared to start back again. In the meantime I’ll continue with the detour and look forward to cycling maybe once a week in addition to running once i’m healed =) Yesterday’s ride was really lovely. Some pretty pink flowers have bloomed literally overnight and they match my bike so well! And the sky was filled with puffy white clouds. I swear I can stare at clouds and see cartoon characters just waiting to be created….
A picture perfect day in NYC
visualizing this view but a red bridge and chrissy field below…8 weeks!
So May comes to a close with all of 8 running miles. Not exactly what marathon training should look like but hey—that’s life. Well, I did work hard on practicing carbo-loading ALL MONTH and have 5 lovely added pounds to carry around with me for a bit….hopefully just a few weeks because it’s making me sad and I hate when I get down on myself about weight gain. Phooey!
My social calendar for June will start off nice and quiet but will get quite busy come the second half of the month, so I’m just going to take it easy and enjoy a little loafing around the house. And so long as the foot cooperates I’ve got two 10Ks on the horizon this month. The Oakley Mini 10K and The Queens 10K. Definitely won’t be shooting for a PR though.
Today I’m going to shoot for a short bike ride and then do some major cleaning or napping….not sure how productive I feel like being =)
Are you being productive today or is it a lazy weekend for ya?
Recent Comments