Today was a wonderful Sunday.

As of late, I tend to wake up on Sundays kind of exhausted, pretty hungover, and lacking the motivation to do anything productive. So when there’s an opportunity for Sunday’s to be filled with fun, I run with it.

After a craAzZzzy St. Patrick’s Day (read: 8 mile run, coffee date w/ a friend visiting from DC, some solid work at HQ, and two drinks that made me pathetically a-little-more-than-tipsy) I found my bed by midnight and was greeted with a 7:30 alarm and quickly realized I had to roll out stat. Because at that moment, thousands of people were running the NYC Half Marathon. And here I was, wrapped up in warm covers, barely moving a muscle.  Cheering was the least I could do.

I headed down to South Street Seaport, where the finish line was. Still amazed at how packed the L is no matter what hour, I made it down to Water Street with time to spare. I met up with Kim, and we grabbed a prime screaming spot to watch all the runners come in. It was also quite humorous hearing the announcers; they must see who is coming to the line based on their chips, and were able to give some finishers a few seconds of fame: And heeeeere comes Dan, who is getting his MBA from Duke! He is both smart aaand fit!”

Here is Kim and her sister, Katie, who kicked ass and deserved that mountain of pancakes and bacon. (Kim, you deserve it too!)

I was especially proud of Jocelyn, who KILLED not only her PR, but the time she was hoping to run (by 4 minutes!!). Look at this picture! She is so enthusiastic! Laura also fed Jocelyn her favorite treat (cadbury eggs) that she weaned herself off of while training.

Watching this race also reminded me how cool it is to see so many people who have worked their butts off cross the finish line. The human body is an amazing thing, and it literally makes me beam seeing sooo many people accomplish an amazing feat! I also may or may not have teared up seeing a blind man finish with three guides by his side. Now he was STOKED.

After a delightful brunch with Laura and Jocelyn, I camped out in a bookstore for awhile and then made my way over to HQ to…paint our office !! We thought our walls needed a little Buzz Blaster Blue, Apple Sauce Cake, and someothercolor, so we picked up a few brushes and made it happen:

Clearly, we are just as good at painting as we are at inspiring the world to make healthier choices. ; )

So overall, Sunday = success. Since I’m semi-helpless, my brother and Kati fed me dinner before I actually went home to hard chill with Ali and Jenna before hitting the hay. Which is happening..now.

So, there was this time where I ran 5K’s for a living and wanted to nearly shoot myself. And now, I am running a half marathon in a month.

And I keep forgetting.

To be fair, I’ve quickly learned that shorter distances do NOT mean easier races. After running a few 10 K’s, I’ve learned they are much easier than 5Ks (for me). Running 3.1 faaast miles means feeling tired, oh, almost immediately. In longer races you can at least “settle” into a comfortably (hard) pace.

And I think I can do the distance. Right? I’ve run a few 10 milers, and have felt great. But…I know myself. I’m totally not a competitive person with others (oh sir, you want to steal the ball from me? Okay that’s fine). But I’m particularly hard on myself, and fear I am forming expectations I can’t keep.

Sub 2:00 half? Def. Sub 1:40 half? Probably not. But what if my legs fail me on the apparently “really hilly” course? What if I don’t have the endurance to run 7:something pace  for more than half the race? And what if…this half makes me hate running?

This is what I’m scared of most, I think.  So maybe I should shut up and just run it to run it. Feel good and complete the race. Right?! I know I can do it, but I also know I’m going to probably (and stupidly) go out hard and feel very tired for more than half the race. Is this normal? I don’t know how to run a half, so I’m not sure when you’re supposed to feel like you want to pull over.

Anyways, here’s the recap of a 10 miler (a distance I  randomly chose for myself) I went on today. It went well, despite my evening prior with some lovely ladies and a nutritious dinner: a margarita, two sangrias, and guacamole.  I woke up at 7am starved (wonder why), and ate breakfast and enjoyed coffee..and then hit the road.

10 miles averaging 8:17…I was on pace for a half in roughly 1:48, which I’d be happy with! When breaking down the run:

Mile 1-3: My house, to over the bridge and nearing the East River Park. I’m tired (zzz) and my legs are still warming up. I’m sort of gliding and going on auto-pilot. Pretty content.

Mile 4-5: Bored of the east river and eager to reach the turnaround point. VERY windy and mad it’s slowing me down. Try to smile at the other runners for fun, and enjoy the sights. Lots of snot rockets (sorryimnotsorry). The cold wind is hurting my lungs.

Mile 6-7: Heading back to the bridge, and feel fast. Want to move faster, but also afraid of getting hungry?

Mile 8: Confirmed. Starving. Really want to eat a sandwich or seven. Downhill on the bridge makes me happy and distracts my hunger.

Mile 9-10. Nauseous. Legs feel great but stomach wants to die. Need to be fed. Run straight to my brothers apartment and drink tea with Kati. Feel much better. Pray there is hot water when I return home. Luke warm.

Anyhoo, this run helped me feel better about the More+FItness Half I’m running (April 15th! Largest Women’s half in America!), so I think I may put my competitive nature aside and try running it super super fast for fun. We shall see.

I figured out what, for me, is the hardest yoga pose. I used to think it was a headstand, crow, firefly, or peacock. But as I continue to get stronger, I’ve realized that I’m getting closer to these poses, and can hopefully do them one day. So what’s the most challenging pose that I may never get right?

Savasana, of course.

Also known as “corpse pose,” savasana ends every yoga practice. You simply lie down on your back, close your eyes, and play dead. Oh, and rid your body of all thoughts. No big deal.

I always look forward to the end of a yoga class, because savasana is really one of the only times I truly let myself chill out. As soon as my alarm goes off in the morning, I jump out of bed (what’s a snooze button?) and I go go go for 15 or however many hours before I retreat back to bed (where I just dream of something chaotic or weird, so even then my mind’s a goin).  For some reason, I have never known how to slow down.  

Still, I end my practice on the mat and my mind keeps wandering. Perhaps the yogi gods were challenging me as I thought about this the other night. I was returning home from Laura’s apartment on the UWS (it was late), and was greeted with an L train that wasn’t arriving for…an hour. Do I call a friend that lives in Manhattan? Do I take a $20 cab? Do I sleep in the office? (which I actually almost did) Or do I just sit…and wait?

The first ten minutes of my decision making was put on hold, because I ended up talking to an old man. He assured me that there were worse things in life than 52 minutes till the L, which I more or less had to agree with. We talked about tornados in Mississippi, wars in Sudan, and homeless people on the streets. Clearly, I could wait an hour.

So I did.  I unplugged my headphones, put away my moleskin, and sat on the 6th avenue L platform at 12:30 on a Monday night. (My old friend at that point jumped on a train going in the opposite direction.) And I thought about savasana. Now, I didn’t lie down on the subway platform (wouldn’t put it past me , though). But I did sit as quietly as  I could, trying to avoid thinking about the day at work, what I had to finish up at home, if Ali would even hear me call her and let me in our apartment (she had my keys), or how cold I would be walking home (it was 28 degrees). And for some crazy reason, I was able to just sit on that platform and escape from every thought, worry, or question, for an hour. Traveling far away from the city that was right above me.

I didn’t let go completely, but it was good practice. And especially as of late, it’s easy to feel a little trapped in the big city. Yet I’m beginning to learn that it’s not always our surroundings we’re trying to get away from, but how we feel when around them. And letting yourself do absolutely nothing is imperative to recovering, recharging, and simply allowing yourself to take a break from all of life’s stimulations (the good and bad!).

That, or to help make waiting for a train not so terrible.

this is…great.

So, in Februrary I did this photo challenge. And it was fun! You take a photo a day, and, well…guess that’s pretty much it. I posted it on my tumblr and had fun thinking of creative things to take pictures of. Also, the fact that I have instagram makes things super easy, because the app makes anyone look like a great photographer, when in fact..well, you know how it goes. Anyway, I’ve compiled all the photos here, so take a look!

And I jumped on the bandwagon a day late, so there are only 28 pictures. (Guess I was internally rebelling against leap year.)

Here are some things I’m getting good at. Some are more unfortunate than others.

-Taking freezing cold showers. Either my landlord is evil, our building is cursed, or I’m experiencing some pretty bad karma. Whatever the reason, our apartment fails to provide us with hot water, oh, three days out of the week? I’ve had many a yelling match with my landlord (and I’m a pretty passive person). Just last night I screamed at him “MY HANDS TURNED BLUE WASHING THE DISHES.” Woops. The worst is coming back from a long run in the cold weather and showering in..cold water. Still, I’ve become a lightning fast scrubber and shaver. Gotta look at the bright side…?

-Running instead of taking the subway. The city loves to do MTA construction on the weekends. Which makes sense, I guessss, but still makes things quite inconvenient when I want to borough hop on my days off from work. Luckily, the Williamsburg Bridge is only a mile from my haus, so I ran a comfortable 3.5 miles to Strala Yoga rather than taking three, awfully out-of-the-way subways to get there. And while I planned to subway back, I took the wrong metro card with me (of course), and had to run. But I was SO ZEN from an amazing class that I literally…floated back home. And was able to enjoy the view.

–Drinking seltzer. I discovered a sort of sad thing the other day. Seltzer…doesn’t really quench my thirst. But once again, it’s always about looking at the (seltzer) glass half-full. Since it doesn’t really satisfy, I need to drink another bottle..and another..and another…so I’m totally hydrating.

-Collecting candles. Give me a few drinks, and I become fixated on stealing collecting candles from bars. It gives our apartment some extra personality, no?

-Drinking with celebrities (kinda). First it was Penn Badgley at the Charleston, and now it’s Michael Cera at Enids. NBD. I’m weird whenever I see celebs, though. I don’t want to come across as star-struck, so rather than pining over them, I just…ignore. Or run away. You know, play it super cool so they think I’m super awesome. Except that they don’t ever see or meet me. 

-Doing pull-ups. I’m almost done with my 3-week pull-up program I wrote for work. I was supposed to finish the 9th workout on Friday, but felt way too weird after an….interesting yoga class. So even though I have one more day to go, I tested my strength at McCarren Park after my run. And…I was able to do five pull-ups! (Started out barely able to do two.)  I was like a little a kid in a candy store, beaming all the way home.

Till I took a cold shower.

Saw some hip-hop. And danced with the opening DJ. It was silly.

Ran eight miles to Union Square. Wanted to keep going but became ravenous, so ran to the farmer’s market to eat free samples.

Sat in a coffee shop with this one and wrote and wrote and wrote. And filled up on simple deliciousness.

Stayed as hydrated  as possible, and saw an old, lovely friend visiting from Maine!

Drove with Al to Redhook to go grocery shopping. Said hi to Lady Liberty (squint) and a crab shack.

I also did my taxes. And by “did my taxes,” I mean I dropped them off at my brother’s, who gets to deal with multiple W-2’s and multiple addresses. Thanks, Jim! The refund is pending, but whatever I get back is going straight to my savings account a plane ticket. After dropping them off, I was craving some sweet potatoes, beets, and chickpeas blended with cherries, so thank goodness I found this gem. It even came with 91 corn kernels. It’s my lucky night!

Before I started working at Greatist, I’d say I was relatively conscious of my own fitness.  Yet I was pretty unaware of the world of exercise that existed around me, and I’m beginning to learn what a complex, controversial world it is. “Fitness” is not one big happy family. In fact, people have stroooong opinions of what the best way to get fit, lose weight, and stay healthy is, and they often ridicule other types of exercise in the process.

There’s backlash, questions, and concerns all over the place: People are claiming yoga can wreck your body, while lifting weights could not only be bad for the eyes, but fatal. And let’s not even talk about CrossFit—this exercise regime gets fingers (and fists) pointed at them daily. But what I was surprised to see was that running gets a lot of shit—more than I was aware. I read one startling article that was truthful in many ways, but was written to firstly create controversy, then display the truth. One of the subheads reads: “Aerobic training increases adrenal stress which can make you fatter and produce other undesirable health consequences.” Using such language like this fails to address the main issue, which is sure: People who clock in slow, boring miles aren’t going to get fit. This article does a better job addressing this point, as does this one, yet I’m still left with a sour taste in my mouth.

Maybe it’s because I’m a runner who’s simply getting defensive. Or maybe, my idea of fitness is different from yours, from this other guy, from this women, and this teenager, that it’s nearly impossible to create standards for what people should and shouldn’t do, and why. I am a firm believer that fitness is extremely personal and you’ll only get the results you want if you’re genuinely having fun. It is sad to see people log in slow, painful, and boring miles on the treadmill, thinking that’s the key to health. It’s equally as disheartening to see the same people at the same weight machines everyday, lifting slowly… and heavily (that a word?)…and drowning it all down w/ a muscle milk. And maybe they do it because they’re nervous of what may happen if they don’t, that the muscle will shed off, the fat will pack on, the abs will disappear. The startling truth is that most could stop exercising completely and just eat really well,and be as well off as the rest of them. Want to lose weight? Lose the brownie. It’s pretty simple. (Or maybe not?!)

If people start choosing their workouts based on preference, rather than choosing what seems to be “the best” option out there, then it’s absolutely the best fitness answer—for them. I have my own fitness goals which means I don’t have to do CrossFit daily—even if they claim to have created the best program to get fit. But what is “fit,” exactly? Can there be just one definition? Maybe, I don’t know. But what I do know is I workout because I love it, because I want do, and because it’s fun—not because I see exercise as a means to an end. I choose to go on the treadmill every now and then because call me crazy—but I enjoy it. I’m not saying I like a push up as much as a concert or a roller coaster ride, but …even push ups have a place in my heart. I don’t lift everyday (even if it does the body wonders) because I just don’t love it enough.  This is not to say, of course, that if you absolutely love hatha yoga or long distance running you should only stick to those forms of fuel. Having fun doesn’t mean not pushing yourself or feeling uncomfortable from time to time; it means feeling strong and confident when you’re working, and proud..and enjoying the community around you and the people who motivate you, knowing you’re making the body healthier. 

So what’s the single best exercise? Guess what, there probably isn’t one. So I think it’s sad when (some, but not all) runners have to get defensive,  lifters act like know-it-alls, and CrossFitters think everyone else is just naive. Since when did fitness become this totem pole with everyone scrambling to the top? 

…about running.

Recently, Scott from iRunnerBlog was in a running funk, so his friend created a list of reasons why he liked to run. Inspired, Scott wrote his own list, and then asked that others do the same. (There also may be a contest + prizes involved, but nbd).

So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I figured I’d give this list a try. I’ve also been drastically cutting back on my miles, since I’m doing a 3-week pull-up training workout that leaves my arms numb and my legs bored. So, running—I miss you, and here is why I love ya:

1)The runner’s high at mile five. Always mile five.

2) The wonderful friends I have made.

3) Post-run brunch. Eggs. Always.

4) Long summer runs at Sunken Meadow. Sports bra and shorts. No headphones. Miles and miles of trails. Then run into the ocean. 

5) Racing: Putting your bib on and lining up. Excited. Nervous.

6) Having strict “me” time where nothing else matters

7)  Speed workouts—200m cutdowns. Running the curve.

8) The sense of accomplishment + pride from the discipline running takes.

9) How it clears my head and improves my mood—always.

10) Spitting. It’s fun. And completely necessary.

1) On Friday, Ali and I met on the LES to go to a bar & see a show. Yet once we got there, neither of us wanted to drink or pay $10 to see the band, so we  decided to walk home. Over the bridge. Here I am “modeling” with Flat Stanley. 

 2) The two of us are also on a seltzer/diet ginger-ale kick. It’s bad. And too good. We brought over our own  “six-pack” for the Superbowl last week and kicked back with some carbonation.

3) I often stop by a certain deli on my way to the subway to grab a seltzer, granola bar, or piece of fruit. And from time to time, this little cat often greets me as I make my purchase. What a life. 

4) My best friend Danielle was chosen to shoot for Fashion Week, because she is baller. And amazing. Here is one of her instagram photos. I can’t wait for her to become famous.

5) The only thing I miss about the summer is riding the train with this one and doing the crossword. Thankfully, the tradition was brought back for a short while when Nic stayed with me last week. (The easier the crossword, the better.) 

 6) I did not have a lick of alcohol this weekend, but probably only because I had my fair share w/ my partner-of-crime on Wednesday. What was supposed to be a quick “grab a beer and catchup” at our local bar quickly turned into way too many free shots of tequila (after I ironically wrote an article on the health effects of binge drinking). Woops.

7) I recently stumbled upon this blog and became enamored with this post. Kolby Kirk hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and recorded his travels in five mole-skin journals. It’s such a beautiful way to capture memories—putting things down by hand, having them tangible. (You know, unlike a blog…)

8) This weekend, I also had the pleasure of helping ref the New York Rogue Runners Hot Dog Challenge. The race? A 3-mile course that involved stopping at eleven hot-dog stands. Eleven. And eating a hotdog at each one. I recruited my friend David Tao, because although he is not really a runner, he is an eater. And you know what? He beat everyone. And won $250! He’s a Greatist!