Ah, To Be An Olympian

Well, people. We are currently approaching the end of Week 1 of the World's collective favorite event ever: The Olympics! 


I have to say, I really love the Olympics because I see all of these athletes flaunting their fantastic bodies, killing it at their chosen sport, and it kind of inspires me to work that much harder. Now, have I actually been working harder in training or making an attempt to live a healthy lifestyle? 


No. 


But, I have made a decision today (after a weekend down the shore of stuffing my face with cheese balls and consuming several alcoholic beverages) to really up my own personal game and start treating my body better. 


What does this entail? 


Well, for starters, I will not be eating any more cheese balls. But in all seriousness, I will be really taking a look at what I'm eating and how much of it I am eating. I'm even considering going off of coffee and switching to tea, but uh, we will see how that goes. 


I will be exercising, running or otherwise, at least 5 times a week regardless of what social engagements I have planned. No more excuses, I'm going to figure out a way to exercise and be socially awesome, all at the same time. 


Finally, and I'm hoping that this will come a little easier with the exercising and healthy eating, I will be positive about myself and my life. To be honest, I have found myself in a little bit of a rut lately and have not been proud of who I am. While this endeavor will be a physical life change, I am also going to make an effort to change emotionally. 


I attended my first yoga class ever this past Thursday (which just so happened to be with 600 of my closest friends at Yoga in Bryant Park- check it out, it's every Thursday at 6pm through September 27th) and the instructor kept saying that there is one mantra for yoga. 


No, it's not 'Om' - it's 'Love Your Life'. 


The instructor repeated this a few times throughout the class, and it really seemed like he did love his life. He kept saying how thankful he was to be in this moment and how incredible it was to be sharing in this experience with everyone. I realized how caught up I get in the stressful lifestyle I'm living and find myself only focusing on the negatives in my life. I also realized how much I take for granted every day and how that needs to stop. Starting now. 


So friends, if you are so inclined, I would love to have you also make the change in your lives so we can go through this together. It might be fun, and hey! we might even lose a few pounds or gain an ab muscle or something. We will be some good looking (even better than we are now, if that's possible), positive people. 


I will attempt to keep you posted on my progress every week, but we all know how not-so-great I am at updating this so, let's just roll with it. 


Have a great week out there! And if you can spare a wee bit of your paycheck, I would appreciate if you can donate to my marathon fund for the American Cancer Society. It's easy and fun! Click HERE!

A Lesson in Procrastination

Happy Tuesday, y'all! 

I thought I'd take this moment to update you on my first race in the 'Race-A-Month' series I'm doing for the year of 2012 (and I guess one month of January 2013 because I had a little too much to drink the night before my January 2012 race. Oops.)

The 'Race-A-Month' Series started out with the New York Road Runners (NYRR) Al Gordon Classic 4-Miler on February 25, 2012. For those of you who aren't familiar with how NYRR races work, you have the option to pick up your race packets (race number, time-tag, commemorative tshirt, free samples) on the Thursday and Friday before the race (and Saturday for Sunday races) OR you can pick up your race packet the day of the race, 30 minutes before the start. Because I'm a natural born procrastinator, I decided to pick up my race packet the day of the race- or so I thought. 

For those of you who don't live in New York, let me explain something: the trains are totally wonky on the weekends. (OMG how much do you love the word 'wonky'?) Even if the almighty knowing internets says that the trains are going to be running smoothly on the weekends, the internet is lying to you. Do not believe what you read. 

So, I wake up, get ready and head to the 6 train an hour and a half before I was supposed to start the race, giving myself plenty of time to pick up my race packet, admire the sweet t-shirt that I really don't need, drop off my stuff at bag check and happily saunter to my race corral. I get down to the 6 train, which the World Wide Web had told me was running on time, and, as if right on cue, an announcement is made explaining that there has been an injury at Spring Street, so all trains will be delayed. This announcement was not exactly what I wanted to hear, nor was it what the angry man next to me wanted to hear. 

Trying to make a game plan, I hesitated to leave the station, but ended up staying because my other option, the Q, wasn't even running between Brooklyn and Manhattan (see what I'm talkin' about?). Eventually, after about 15 minutes, a 6 train came and I made it to Union Square. Unfortunately, I had to wait for the 4 train to get there so I could once again transfer to the 3 in order to get to Prospect Park. For the record: this pretty much solidified my decision to never run a race in Brooklyn again on the weekend while I'm still living in Manhattan. This comes with the exception of the Brooklyn Half Marathon, because the Brooklyn Half Marathon is one of the best races ever. But I digress...

I eventually get to Prospect Park at 7:38am. I remember the exact time because I was supposed to have picked up my race packet exactly 8 minutes ago. So, I get off the subway and see absolutely no signs in the park directing me or the other few runners to the start. What I do see when we enter the park is a giant '1', which was the 1-mile marker for the race. "Oh good" I thought (sarcastically, in case anyone isn't getting that) "That means that there is at least a mile until I get to the start- time to start running." 

Let me tell you, running a mile with my bag and sweatshirt before I am actually in a running mindset is probably in the top 3 things on my shortlist that I don't want to be doing before 8am on a Saturday.  But, I did it and finally reached the Start (which was also the Finish Line). Out of breath, I asked a kind NYRR volunteer where the packet pick-up was. He looked at me like "Girl, you crazy" and said "You have to run out of the other side of the park and go to PS150. Just run to the edge of the park and ask the volunteer table, they'll direct you to the street where you need to go." 

Now, I know this is my fault for not picking up my packet sooner, but this was quickly becoming too much stress for me to handle before 8am. Especially because at this point it was 7:53am, and the race was starting in 7 minutes, and I had no idea where the eff I was. I can barely make my way through Central Park on a non-race day, and I've run there at least 30 times. Luckily, I saw another procrastinating runner who was also running towards the other side of the park, so I just followed her. I wanted to yell out at her "Strength in numbers, girl!" but I didn't have any breath to spare and she probably wouldn't have appreciated my cheer.

Finally, at 7:59am, I reach the packet pick-up only to find the boxes packed up and some people sweeping. It was like a RomCom where the guy goes back to get the girl at the school dance or the airport, but he finds he's too late and everyone is packing up and the witty janitor or airline attendant says something like "Sorry brah, you're too late." I too had this experience with my race number, but instead of a witty janitor, it was a surly woman who yelled "NO,WE'RE CLOSED. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE LOCK THAT DOOR SO NO ONE ELSE COMES IN HERE?" 

At this point I'm on the verge of tears. I've been up for hours and have traveled all the way from Manhattan to be here and there has been absolutely no sense of direction for my journey. Well, she must have seen the disappointment (or disdain) in my face, so she reached in her bag and pulled out a random number and said "Here, just take this, email me your time on Monday." 

YES. Just like a good old-fashioned RomCom, the girl never got on the plane or we see she's actually standing outside of the school in the rain just hoping the guy would be there! My race number and I are united and I can run the race! After I thank Surly Woman (half-heartedly, I'll admit. She was really surly.), I run back to the park. On my way into the park I see a volunteer that says "They already started." I wanted to yell back "No duh, I can tell time! Where were all of you when I was trying to find the packet pick-up?" but instead I said "Thanks" (again, half-heartedly. What is up with these people?)

At this point, I'm confident I have already run 2 miles before the race, but it's ok because I was nice and warmed up for the actual race. And guess what? They didn't actually start until I got to bag check (oh, so you frontin' volunteer who told me the race had already started?), so I was able to drop off my bag and breathe for 5 seconds while I waited for my corral to start. Suck on that!

The good news is: I ran all 4 miles in under 40 minutes and I felt great! This was a first time for me, so I was really just ecstatic. I probably ran so fast because I was angry, but it doesn't matter, I did it and I lived to tell the tale. 

Of course, I got home absolutely no problem. 

The moral of the story? I'm not really sure. Do I say it's not OK to procrastinate because you might not get to run the race? Or, do I say you should procrastinate because you'll get a better race time? I'll get back to you after this weekend- I'm running race #2: Coogan's Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K up in Harlem.

I can tell you one thing for sure: I'll be picking up my race packet ahead of time. 

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! I am officially signed up to race with the American Cancer Society again, so if y'all can spare a few dolla dolla billz to help create more birthdays, it would be much appreciated. Click here to donate: MORE BIRTHDAYS!!!!!

Ab Fab!

No people, this is not about the hilarious series we see every week on LOGO after RuPaul's Drag Race. I'm talkin' about mah ab muscles! Er, rather, the ab muscles I'm trying to create.

One thing I neglected in my marathon training last time was my core. (Side Note: Every time you read the word 'core', please picture me saying it like a professional wrestler: "HARD COOOOORE, BROTHER" You could probably make this into a drinking game.) I was reading an article from Runner's World called: The Core of the Matter and it stresses that a strengthened core is something that is vital to improve running times and also prevents injuries. Well, I'm all about improving my running time and avoiding injuries, so I'm paying attention to my tummy this time.

My goal for the summer is to have at least one visible ab. I've literally never had any definition in my stomach, so I figure now is the best time to jump on that.

"But Lindsay, how do you find the motivation to strengthen your abs? And how do you know you're doing it correctly?"

Good question, home reader! Luckily, my sweet gym, BOOM Fitness, offers ab classes three times a week. Here, I am able to truly get the most out of the free classes that are offered to me and have an instructor to yell at me like Gillian Michaels if my form is incorrect or I'm just being lazy. Also, the classes go so quickly. I don't know how that happens, but I've survived every class I've gone to and that's kind of a big deal for me because, like I said, abs really aren't my thing.

I have really gotten into group fitness classes lately and I think it's because of the solidarity thing. I've looked around at the other brave souls in my classes, and they are struggling just as much as I am. I don't mean that in a degrading way- I mean it in a positive way. It gives me the inspiration to finish and I would hope that them seeing me struggle inspires them too. If I see other people sucking it up, then I can too. Granted, I walk like a I'm tipsy and it hurts to laugh for days afterwards, but yeah, it's worth it.

So, who's ready to get hard 'core' abs with me? (Sorry, I had to.)

Let's do this!

I'm BAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKK

OMG, like, have you totally missed me? 


It's been a long year an a half without these blog posts, but somehow we've made it through.


Good news y'all: I'm running the Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2012! It will just be the best birthday present to myself, and how appropriate that I'll be running 26.2 miles the day before I turn the big 2-6?


I know you're probably asking yourself "But Lindsay, Chicago is in Illinois and you live in New York. Why would you want to run a marathon there?"


Well, inquisitive reader, thank you for asking! I have unfortunately never been to the great city of Chicago, but everyone I know who has been there tells me I will love it. What better way to see a city than to run like a madwoman through it? It'll be a great distraction from all of those miles. 


I have vowed to myself that I will update this thing more than once a month, which I'm hoping will also encourage me to get my butt in gear because I haven't been the most, uh, consistent with my running habits. So I need YOU to keep me motivated. No pressure. 


Also, I've promised myself (barring any injuries during the race) that I will run this race under 5 hours, but I'm more so shooting for a time around 4:30. My pace for normal runs has been really great (for me) lately- around a 9:30 mile, so if I keep that up it's definitely doable. 


Having one marathon under my belt is really helpful because I know what I need to do to train properly this time, and also won't be as nervous, which I think will assist me in my goal to get my time down more than an hour from my time in the NYC Marathon.  


In other good news, I will be running with the American Cancer Society again! Stay tuned for deets. 


Ok well this has been fun, but I'm sleepy, so I'm going to leave you with this map of the Chicago course. But fear not blog-mates, I'll be back soon, I promise. 


Enjoy! LOTS OF MILES