icy weather will not win

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Today was cold. Really cold. Bitter cold. The whole day, at work, looking outside at the icy coldness (clear skies in the winter are rarely warm skies), I kept thinking of all the reasons to not go running. Then I thought of going on the treadmill, knowing how easy it would be to get off the treadmill if I got tired. Even on my way home, I was still debating whether I was going to run. Such a mental game.

And then I remembered the sweatshirt I didn’t want to wear on Saturday because it wasn’t cold enough. This sweatshirt makes it possible for me to run when it’s freezing cold outside because a) it has a high neckline…like too high for normal wear…and b) it has a hood. I purchased this sweatshirt at H&M back before people in the U.S. even knew what H&M was (thank you Switzerland) and I it was one of two sweatshirts that made it through the Great Closet Clean Out of 2010 (thank you, New York Relocation). I don’t know why I kept it, but it was perfect for tonight. And for some reason, the desire to wear that sweatshirt was motivating. (I am seriously amazed at how normal and weird I can be simultaneously.)

So, after realizing that running on the treadmill (at first I typed dreadmill…talk about a serious Freudian slip) would surely end in disaster (me quitting after half a mile) and deciding that I would, in fact, survive running outside, I donned my winter running wear and was ready to head out the door. And then I remembered the joys of the runny nose that happens in the freezing cold. So, I coated my nose in Aquifor (basically petroleum jelly) so that it wouldn’t be totally raw by the end of my run. And then I was off.

In case you were wondering, there is nothing sexier that winter running. Nothing. (Runners everywhere wish that was true.)

The run was fantastic in terms of my cardiovascular stamina. I took it at my normal slow pace and was doing great…and then a cramp struck my left calf. Serious muscle pain. You’ll be happy to know that I did not let this slow me down. I just pushed through it. Sadly, it was so cold that my poor calf only managed to loosen up with a half mile left in my 3.5 mile run, but it made for an amazing last half mile.

And, because I know you really wanted to know this…the Aquifor on my nose kept me from touching it (there was a lot of sniffing) or wiping it, so my nose is perfectly happy and in tact. Totally worth it.

Finally, the song that accompanied my super fast last half mile (and then some)…Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel. As I ran, I imagined myself doing a little MJ dance, with the hand snap and all. It was awesome.

If you ever want to feel hard core, just go running in the freezing cold. I swear people were looking at me like I was amazing…or maybe like I was crazy (hard to tell, but I’m going to go with amazing).

Tomorrow, speed work. I can’t decide if I want to try to do this outside since I can do 1/4 mile sprints easily given the street system here in NYC…or if I want to use the treadmill. We shall see.

central park running

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Blogging everyday is so much easier than once a week, but having the running theme (for now) helps. I may catch up at some point and share all of the “fun” details of my trip back home to New York. But for right now, we’re on to running.

Monday was a wash, what with all the traveling. Tuesday was speed work…a tempo run. All I had to do was run for 30 minutes, slowing increasing my pace for 10 minutes, holding the fast pace for 10 minutes, and then slowing down for the last 10 minutes. I made it…10 minutes. Total. The treadmill and I were not friend.

I decided to try something different on Wednesday. Randomly, I had a conversation on New Year’s Eve about how many NYC street blocks (we have street blocks and avenue blocks) are in a mile. There are 20. So, I decided that I would run outside. Now, with 20 street blocks being in a mile, you can imagine how many times I might have to stop and wait for lights…which is why I chose to run along the park side of Central Park West. The beauty of the park side (east side) of that street is that there are only a few streets that run through the park, meaning there were only a few potential stops.

I got home from work on Wednesday, changed right into my outdoor running gear (yep, I do own some running tights…amazing), and was off. I warmed up walking to Central Park West, and then I was off; 96th down to 66th and back again. It was AMAZING. First of all, every time I run outside in NYC, I remember how lucky I am to live in such an amazing place. Second, running somewhere is so much better than running in place. So. Much. Better.

And the song of the run? The one that kept me going when I wanted to quit? California Gurlz – Katy Perry.

Given this new discovery, I decided that my run this morning would have to be outside. The beautiful thing about where I live is just how close I am to Central Park. And, as it happens, the Central Park Loop* is almost exactly six miles (6.0273 to be exact). It is also great because it’s got some good elevation changes. Nothing major, but way better than running on flat…at least when training for a half-marathon that also has a few elevation changes.

It was amazing. Seriously. I felt so good. And considering that the farthest I had run (like, the whole time) prior to this morning was the three miles I ran on Wednesday, I was seriously amazed at what I was able to run. I did walk a little so I could drink some water. But otherwise, I just cruised right along…right at the pace I seem to always run at. It felt great to be outside and running up and down hills and pushing right along. And Central Park is so pretty all snow covered.

There were a few moments when I could feel myself almost walking when I didn’t really need to walk, but mentally, I think I’m finally back in the running game. And Taio Cruz definitely did his part with Dynamite. Seriously, such a fun song to run to.

And that’s my running for the week. And here are the lessons I (re)learned this week:

  1. Always opt to run outside if it’s an option.
  2. If I’m going to run on Fridays (as my schedule says to do) and Saturdays, the Friday runs have to happen in the morning.
  3. The Central Park Loop is truly the perfect distance.
  4. I need to carry more tissues with me (my nose was raw by the end). 
  5. There’s a vendor at exactly the right point for water purchasing, although bringing some with me is definitely cheaper.
  6. Running really is so mental.
  7. Sleep makes a huge difference in my motivation level.
  8. My body is kind of amazing.
  9. I am going to be able to run this half marathon in March, and maybe if cut 10 minutes off of my time last year. 
*I loved looking at this map and seeing the following caption on the loop I ran: THE ‘BIG’ (‘6 MILE’) LOOP (FOR VERY ACCOMPLISHED RUNNERS). Talk about a great ego boost…even if it did take me a long time to run it.

forward momentum

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I have mentioned frequently that I think New Year is kind of a silly holiday. That’s probably slightly inaccurate. I think what it really is is that I don’t like when people have ridiculous expectations for how “amazing” it’s going to be or whatever. (For the record I feel the same exact way about birthdays.) I did, in fact, have a very fun NYE filled with lots of friends and laughter and my sliding down the lane after getting a little overzealous in my bowling–and no, I wasn’t drunk.

I actually really like the whole New Year thing when it comes to reflecting on the year and what has happened and where I’d like my life to go in the next year. I think this should be done with some regularity and so New Year is a great time to make sure this happens.

Earlier this week, I was at brunch with Brian (a benefit of being stuck in Utah for so long) and we were discussing motivational speakers. Brian was telling me that Tony Robbins has said that people usually overestimate what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish in ten years. I actually found the quote:

Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year — and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!

This idea has been rolling around in my head for the past six days as I have been thinking about what the next year could have in store for me and I think I completely agree with it. (I have not yet mastered time nor do I know much about the rest of what Tony Robbins teaches.)

Here are some of the things I was thinking about in terms of goals for the next year:

  • Losing weight (the never ending battle in my life)
  • Getting out of debt (financial mastery…not my strong suit)
  • Running another marathon
  • Getting myself the new role I really want in my rotational program at work (I don’t even know what this is yet)
  • Going on a real vacation

Now, keeping in mind this idea of overestimating what I can do in a year, and underestimating what I can do in 10, I’ve been rethinking some of these goals. For instance, I always have these grandiose weight loss plans that have me ending the year at exactly the weight I want to be (about 60 lbs less than I weight right now).

In reality, if I could live in a vacuum, I could probably lose 60 lbs in a year…but that’s all I’d do because I wouldn’t be able to think about anything else if I wanted to actually lose 60 lbs in a year. But what if I just set the goal this year to lose 10 lbs and keep it off. And then next year I do the same thing. Sure, it would take me more than a year to lose those 60 lbs, but it’s not like I would actually lose those 60 lbs in a year anyway. Doesn’t 10 lbs seem so much more manageable? And if I’m working to lose it and keep it off, and the goal is actually realistic, I’m guessing I could actually do it, and I would actually be 60 lbs lighter in six years versus ending every year frustrated that I haven’t lost a ton of weight and feeling like a total failure. And who knows, maybe I’d lose 15 instead of 10 and then I’d be done in four years.

Getting out of debt. The reality is, this is not going to happen in a year and I know this. That said, I think figuring out a realistic ten year plan could really help me feel so much better about where I’m at right now and where I could be. I will set a realistic goal for myself for the next year, and it will take into account the fact that I do want to be able to still enjoy my life. These goals will be more behavior based and less end goal based. I mean, it’s great to say, “I will have these two credit cards paid off by the end of the year,” but if I’m not changing my behaviors, how long will they really stay paid off and in the ten year scheme of things, wouldn’t it be great to figure out how I’m going to get out of debt and then how I’m going to start saving money so I can actually retire one day. (On that note, I do take advantage of my 401k match right now because that would just be throwing money away if I didn’t.)

Running another marathon: the fact is, I don’t just want to run another marathon. I want to run another marathon much faster than I ran the first. Considering how I am sucking wind now when I run any distance, it would be silly to set this goal for this year. But I do want to set a goal that will get me closer to running a faster marathon. So, in an effort to get to my goal of running three races during my year of 33, I have decided my goal will be to run three half-marathons, shaving off 10 minutes each one. (This might sound unrealistic to you experienced runners, but if you knew just how slow I run, you would know that this is totally doable.) This goal won’t require me to eat, sleep, and breathe running, but it will require me to stay focused on exercising.

Going on a real vacation. So, first of all, with all of my missed flights, this has been a real vacation. I have slept more in the past two weeks than I would have thought possible. I feel great. I’ve enjoyed eating good things, playing lots, and just hanging out. That said, I want to go on a fun trip to an exotic place (read: outside of the U.S. and western Europe). Realistically, with my current plans for the coming year, trying to do something like this would be stressful and, financially, a little unrealistic given my other goals. So, instead of making sure this one happens, I’m going to start planning for a serious vacation for next year or the year after. I will need to figure out about what it will cost and how I can start saving for it a little at a time. Again, I want to be realistic about what I can achieve in a year.

As for work, I think this is the one area where it’s easy to be realistic about what I can do in one year because I don’t have a lot of control over it. I definitely have some lofty goals for the next five years, but what I need to do is start looking at those goals and talking to my mentors about how to best reach those goals.

In fact, with all of these goals, I think it might not be a bad idea to find some people to mentor me and find some good books to read to keep me motivated (suggestions?).

Anyway, I’m excited about the year ahead…and the next ten years! Seriously, I feel like anything is possible and hopefully, by being realistic in my one year plans and ambitious in my 10 year ones, I will be able to keep this forward momentum going.

mentoring (or how i spend my saturdays)

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There are all kinds of charities throughout the world and various ways to give of your time or money. Once upon a time I was very involved with Sowers of Hope in DR Congo. It has had its ups and downs and with grad school and then moving to New York, I didn’t feel like I could really give the time or money I wanted to give. That said, I knew when I moved to New York I would want to find some way to give back.

Enter Minds Matter. One of my friends at work found this organization and I decided I wanted to get involved. As a firm believer in education and as someone who recognizes just how lucky I was to have parents who believed in education and a great example in my father who had a masters degree, and to have their support through high school, college, and then a masters degree, I feel like any organization that is trying to help kids not as privileged as I was get an education is something I can get behind.

Minds Matter is a program that helps high achieving, underprivileged high school students get into college. Interesting fact, the average income of these families is $21,000…in major urban areas. They do this by helping the kids with their test prep and getting them into incredible summer programs (Stanford, UCLA, etc, etc) that help them get into college. As a mentor of a high school sophomore, I meet with my mentee, Ivy*, every Saturday to help her prepare applications for various summer programs and whatever else she might need. Ivy is really interested in French and is in her first semester of it, so I get to help her with that; so fun for me.

I’ve also learned a lot from her. While I did not have the ideal childhood in terms of family situation, it could have been much harder. (I mean, I knew that, but…) Ivy lives in the Bronx and commutes to Queens for school (an hour each way) just so she can attend a better school. Her older brothers both live near her high school, so sometimes she stays with one of them. There are times when she doesn’t get to go home for a week at a time. I mean, she’s staying with her brother, but I know it’s rough for her. Her parents both work in a restaurant. One of her brothers is a mechanic, the other is a limo driver. No one in her family has ever graduated college. I actually don’t think anyone has ever even gone. Things that I took for granted as a kid (like having parents who knew how to apply for college) are things that are not at all part of her life.

This is a great program and I’m so thrilled to be a part of it. Something about having to plan your whole weekend around spending a couple of hours with high school sophomore really helps a thirty-something keep her life in perspective.

The program is funded through grants and fundraising and the various summer programs work with Minds Matter to offer financial aid to the students. And this is the part where I ask you if you’d like to donate to this great program. If you are interested, you can donate directly on my fundraising site. I’m trying to raise enough to sponsor the cost of one student ($2,500). Any amount helps!

And with that, I’m off to run my three miles and get on with my day.

*Name has been changed.

stuck in utah and a small victory

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I spent a few hours at the SLC airport yesterday, waiting for my delayed flight…delayed flight that never was. Fog in Chicago ended my hopes of getting home yesterday and so, I am still in Utah. The good news is that I am “stuck” with my family and a bunch of good friends, so it’s not so bad. And, while I was supposed to hang out with the lovely Sarah and her boyfriend in NYC, I will get to see her when she returns tonight. And thankfully, they were staying in my apartment in New York, so my plants aren’t dead and my mailbox isn’t overflowing.

While I was sitting at the airport for hours, I ran into my darling cousin Maddie who was on her way to see her sister, Ali, and her new niece. Then, as luck would have it, my favorite running partner, Anne, was at the airport with her husband waiting for their flight to DC. I hadn’t met him before and I hadn’t seen Anne in almost two years (since we ran the SLC half marathon together in April 2009). They came to my gate to see me off just as I found out I wouldn’t be going anywhere and kept me company while I waited for Southwest to call me back and my dad to return from P-town to pick me up. And, had I waited just a little longer before going back through security, I would have seen Puz, who was on his way back to Germany via Paris (that will be me someday).

All in all, the hours in the airport were far from wasted. And then, because I was in town last night, I was able to attend Jenna’s bro-in-law’s b-day party and see a lot of my favorite people from NYC; Jenna, Alisa, Sara, and Kevin.

Now, when I found out my flight was canceled, I realized I would be able to get my run in…fast forward a few hours and I have almost forgotten about running entirely.  I got home, ate dinner with my fam, and then headed over to the party. I wasn’t planning on staying very long, but I do love my NYC friends and I do hate missing out on anything… At about 8:30, I thought, “If I want to get my run in, I should probably head home.”

But then I was having fun talking to everyone and I hate missing out on social time. I texted my brother around 8:40 to make sure I’d be able to use the treadmill (it’s in my brother and sister-in-law’s bedroom). No response. And so I kept procrastinating. Finally, at 9:00, I knew that if I didn’t leave right then I wouldn’t have time to get my three miles in. It was decision time.

These are the moments when it’s so easy to say, “It’s just this one time. I won’t skip tomorrow, but today I really want to hang out with my friends.” The problem is that there is always some excuse. Always. And so, as hard as it was, I left my friends and headed home to run.

The good news is, I got the run in. The bad news is I am very out-of-shape in the running department, so the “run” was a little painful and even slower than usual. I just have to remember that it’s all progress as long as I’m doing it. And now, for the songs that got me through yesterday’s run:

I Want You Back – The Jackson Five
Stop – Jane’s Addiction
The Way You Make Me Feel – MJ (apparently, Michael and I were having a thing yesterday)
I Think I’m In Love With You – Jessica Simpson
Summer Love – JT

There were others, but those are the ones I remember that helped me keep going. I had forgotten just how much I love Jane’s Addiction. Maybe because liking them makes me feel very old. Anyway, I got the run in and felt very satisfied as I went to sleep last night. Today…no running. Just strengthening…toning video, here I come.