February 2012
27 posts
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ON FITNESS MAGAZINES AND THEIR QUICK FIX ADS.
You know what? I admit it: sometimes I need a magazine to get me through an hour’s worth of cardio. I’ll put the settings on an interval program so I don’t let myself coast, I’ll find the catchiest and guiltiest pleasures on my iPod, I’ll drape the towel over the screen so I can’t see how much time or how many miles I’ve yet to complete, and I’ll...
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forget talking about the suckiest 11 miles ever,...
We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.
What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.
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“If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like...”
– Charles Bukowski
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gluten free toasted coconut shortbread.
You guys, I don’t often do “cute.” Call me cute, and I usually recoil, because what grown woman wants to be told she’s… cute? Zooey Deschanel is the obvious exception to the rule, that girl has made her career out of being adorable and friggen’ twee as all hell and she’s the one laughing her 32 year old ass all the way to the bank. But seeing as I...
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if you give a mouse a cookie... (it better be a...
Tonight, I absolutely did not want to go to the gym. I slept in this morning which totally threw me off, it was a long day at work, I’d been battling a bit of a stomach ache all day that a few too many tortilla chips didn’t help — but oh my god, pause for the real talk, the sweet potato tortilla chips from Trader Joe’s are freaking amazing — and the subway left the...
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what the treadmill has taught me.
I’ve realized that there is now a distinct shift in my life as a runner: pre-training era and post… well, during training. (P.T.E and D.T.E? We’ll work on the names.)
Before I began training for this race — my first, for the kids at home just joining the party — I was an outdoor runner. I hated the treadmill. I couldn’t stand it. If I was going to run aimlessly...
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breaking news: the gym absolutely sucks after a...
There is no nice way for me to say that.
It just blows. (#gymbratproblems, I know.)
But there are days like today, when I get so absolutely busy that I begin thinking all my running around totally counts as a workout, that I’m grateful my gym is stationed right outside my subway stop so I have no excuse to not go. I have never been a nighttime exerciser; I’m the bitter kind of...
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A RECIPE FOR THE ULTIMATE PEEGRET:
Run 10 miles.
Down a 700mL water bottle promptly upon finishing said run.
Take the subway home.
Forget that the subway ALWAYS delays on weekends, but especially on Sundays.
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to want a glass of milk to go with. If you go for a really long run, upon coming home, you’ll find your roommate just stepped into the shower.
And hogged all the hot...
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let's talk compliments for a minute.
Remember when I went on that whole Oprah rant about how it’s okay to feel pretty? In the past few days, I’ve realized that there’s a completely different side to that, too: what happens when someone else calls you pretty. It’s one thing to look in the mirror and own it on any given day; it’s something completely different to have somebody just interject that...
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confessions of a former cardio machine maniac:
I miss the elliptical, and I miss its soothing sort of rhythmic up and down.
I miss the stepmill, and its serious ability to make my butt defy gravity in a matter of sessions. (Though, hey, running, I gotta hand it to you: you do a pretty good job of this, too.)
I miss the evil arc trainer. I miss the feeling of absolutely wanting to die whenever I use it.
(Bikes — spin, recumbent, and...
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(818): "well, not like it wasn't official but now...
Filed under, texts from my father when he found out how many miles I’d be running today. Thanks for the vouch of confidence, daddy.
When my friend and I built up my training plan for the NYC half marathon, he made a point to remind me that February was going to suck a little bit, because all the long runs this month are with distances that are just on the other side of average. Tell...
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I get asked all the time how much I weigh, and what my BMI is and why I’m not skinnier if I try to eat clean and don’t binge as much anymore. All the time. So I checked the scale at the gym today, though I hardly ever use the thing. You know, just to be totally honest here, since sugar-coating is for cereal you shouldn’t be eating and everything. And while BMI and the scale...
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WatchHey, kids, it’s time for a January training recap!
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January 2012
37 posts
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let's talk "pretty" for a minute.
Because it’s important to feel pretty, no matter what. No matter your size, or shape, or anything in between. (Alert the presses, I’m getting all Oprah on you guys again. Bear with me for a second, okay?)
Here’s the deal: in our society, companies hawk “get pretty!” products at us left and right. It doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or a girl,...
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SIX MILES INTO MY RUN TODAY, I ATE IT.
Like, tripped on my toe on a downhill slant, fell forward, and had to catch myself on all fours. My knees and my palms are all scraped up; I fell on the wooden boardwalk on the Riverside Highway. But because my pride was going to hurt a lot more than my body if I just stopped right there, I forced myself to spring back up (LIKE A MOTHER EFFING NINJA!!! No? Okay, then) and keep going before I...
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A REVELATION: why binging just isn't worth it.
Today wasn’t exactly the greatest day at work, which, I know, totally makes me one in a million. But see, whereas a lot of people can take five minutes away from their desk, go walk around the office, run out and grab a coffee — in other words, escape for even just a moment — I can’t. I used to be able to, back when I had a corporate job, but a desk and an office just...
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RUNNING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND...
Kidding, I only wish I did. When I woke up yesterday, the whole world looked like it was never going to see the end of the big, fat flakes that stuck everywhere. It wasn’t so bad to deal with, because it was a really dry snow — and look at me, talking like I know seasons now, like a real live New Yorker! — and I had a training session on the books anyway so I knew I was going...
THE WRITER OF THIS BLOG PRESENTS TO YOU A...
(Namely, I will be the hater, breaking up six miles into as many intervals as I need to just do the damn thing. I’m going to attempt to run Central Park, because it’s always so pretty the day after it snows, but if I have to, I will be at the gym for as long as I need to be, keeping myself occupied because boo, dreadmills. Also, I just wanted the excuse to use this .gif, can you...
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at work, there is a strict "no" policy on certain...
Hate. Boring. Can’t.
(I work with a five year old and a three year old. Only boring people think things are boring, hate is too strong a word to ever use, and can’t means you haven’t tried, etc. I am so peppy and motivating sometimes, I think Oprah would be ill.)
I hate the treadmill. I can’t stand it. It is so. fricking. boring.
I had to get to work early today and...
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once you put your mind to it...
So hey, remember that time I ran 11 and a half miles because I felt like it and earned a really gnarly blister as a battle scar? (Shush, I’m from Southern California, I say gnarly and grody and I am freaking proud of it.)
And then remember that time I ran seven and a half miles — hint, yesterday — and got a blister under the callused over blister?
Well, I mean, there’s...
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OVERHEARD AT MY TRAINING SESSION TODAY:
Jamie: do you know what a halo is?
Ella: ... A video game?
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For a while, I wasn’t really discussing those things called, you know, (um, like totally, like, like, like) feelings here and have been focusing instead on the simple equation of workout, food, details, done. Who needs the backstory when you can have Cliff’s Notes, right? Nobody really watches “Dear John” for the storyline, let’s just get to the part where Channing...
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IN 2012, I THINK YOU SHOULD: walk more.
Or dance more. Or master more stairs. Or get your booty on an elliptical. Or just get on your feet some more, so put them stilettos away, gurrrrl, we’re going to condition you into becoming a runner and you won’t be as happy moving around so much in heels.
I get asked all the time how to start running. How to run more than a mile at one time. How to condition yourself to run more....