Thanks so much for all your feedback yesterday when I was debating a gym membership.

After my post, I set out to do some further research. And my research was fruitful!

I am really, really good at the internet. As I said in my last post, my company didn’t offer a real discount. At least, not one that employees could actually find on the intranet. But with my talents, I found another company’s website for employee offers, typed in my own work email address, and before I knew it I was on a webpage for employees of MY company — with an amazing discount right there! All I had to do was sign up and it was mine! Why is this information nowhere on our intranet?

There was one catch, though. In order to take advantage of this offer, I had to commit for a year. I started weighing my options once again, trying hard to rationalize a 1 year commitment. But it kept coming back to one problem — I don’t expect to be employed past April, and there is no way I can pay for a gym membership without having a job!

I rationalized and rationalized. I emailed lots of friends. I had multiple phone conversations with the boy. I tried talking myself into just going for it. I still was not ready to commit. And then I got a phone call.

The membership director I spoke to on Saturday called to check in on my decision to join and to see if I was able to find I discount. “I have a website open in front of me right now with this discount,” I told her. “But it requires a one year commitment and I just don’t think I can do it.”

She started thinking, suggesting all the ways I might be able to use another discount. “Does anyone in your apartment belong to NYSC?” Nope. “Did you used to be a member?” Nope. “Were you a member at another gym recently?” Yes! “Do you still have your barcode from that gym?” Yes! “That’s it. We have a discount for you.”

And that is how I got a pretty good price on a month to month, commitment-free NYSC membership! In order to pay for this, I will be cutting down on one medical treatment a month. If I find that I am suffering too much, I can just cancel my membership (with 30 days notice).  I am so glad I didn’t sign up on Saturday. I KNEW there had to be a better offer and I got one!

I went to the gym after work to sign the papers and get my membership card and I was all set!

That is, until this morning when I woke up to an email from the PR Director at NYSC who read my blog entry about my dilemma with a very generous offer. How cool is that. I love when companies step up. I can’t reveal yet what the offer was since I am waiting to hear back from her on my follow up email, but I am hoping to be able to save a little bit more money . . . it might be too late though.

Either way, now I have a gym membership! I can use my “home” location at any time and all other locations (such as the one across the street from my job) during off peak hours and weekends. Not a bad deal! And there is another location pretty close to me that has some good classes on the weekend’s, so I am sure I will be heading over there a couple times. And working out during the day by my job. I have to start leaving gym clothes at work again. And I can spin again! Once I get the hooks back in my shoes, that is.

Another thing that is annoying about the building gym that I forgot to mention yesterday: I only have access to it when the boy is home because I need his key to get in. That is why I bought the rebounder, which I still plan to use, but now I have this my new gym as an option as well. Perfect.

After all the excitement of joining the gym, it was time to meet some friends for dinner at a restaurant I was very excited for. The plan was for Missy, Melissa, Gena and I to eat at Peacefood Cafe on the Upper West Side. I read about it in a Vital Juice newsletter and given its convenient location to my apartment, knew I needed to try it out. The menu sounded divine!

I got there early and sat on a bench in front of the restaurant. Nearly every person who walked by made some comment about the restaurant’s name. Think “Oh, Peacefood. Just what I need. More peace in my food!” in British accent. I guess not everyone is ready for the Peacefood!

Unfortunately, Melissa had to back out since she was given some urgent work to do, so it was just three of us. The restaurant itself was adorable. We each ordered tea that came in large mugs that I loved. I got peppermint and it was delicious. I had obsessed over studied the menu during the day and wasn’t able to decide between these two choices:

Roasted Japanese Pumpkin (Kabocha) mashed and seasoned with a little sea salt, ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil, topped with caramelized onions, ground walnuts, vegan goat cheese and seasonal greens

or the

Mushroom Duxelle with roasted sweet peppers, onions & zucchini

As much as I wanted to finally try kabocha after reading so many blog raves, I was really craving pizza so that is what I went with. Luckily, Missy ordered the kabocha sandwich and Gena ordered a side of kabocha, so I could have the best of both worlds.

I made the right choice. Seriously, that might have been the best pizza I have ever had. It tasted amazing, and the peppers and zucchini really added something special to it. Everything was cooked to perfection:

AMAZING. Devour is too dainty a word to describe what I did to that.

Gena got an amazing salad topped with some delicious looking avocado. I took one look at her giant salad and felt a pang of envy. When I see a salad like that, it makes me miss salads so much and depresses me that I can’t eat them (my stomach will not allow it). While I couldn’t taste her salad, I could, however, taste her roasted kabocha!

Cut off a piece, put in mouth. Chew, chew. Chomp. Swallow.

The verdict? Ehh.

Maybe it was so built up to me from other blogs? Maybe it wasn’t a particularly sweet kabocha? I don’t know. What I do know is that I would take a sweet potato over that kabocha any day. It just didn’t taste that sweet to me. I will need to try again, but that is my first impression. So I am not in any big rush.

This is Gena‘s big salad with the kabocha in the background.

Then I tasted Missy’s kabocha sandwich. I don’t have a picture here yet, but when she posts it I will be sure to steal it. The star of her sandwich was without a doubt the caramelized onions. They were so sweet and flavorful! Delicious!

Aside from the food, our meal was great because we had so much to talk about. This was my first meet up with Gena in such a small setting; while we have emailed countless times, we’ve only seen in each other in large groups, so I am thrilled to have gotten the chance to sit down and eat a meal with her. And Missy is one of my closest friends (for those of you who don’t know, we met in Israel 2 and a half years ago), so there was great company!

As I looked around the restaurant, I was especially happy to see that it was pretty filled up. It is so great to see a vegan, healthy restaurant doing such good business.

Of course, we will have to do it again with Melissa — who, I might add, is running in the NYC Marathon on Sunday! Good luck to Melissa, I know she will do great! Melissa is my running idol since she went from not being a runner to running (like me) to running marathons (not like me. yet?). And she introduced me to Girl Talk.

After we paid the check (imagine 3 girls; 2 english majors and 1 blonde trying to do the math) we walked to the counter and spoke to the restaurant owner. This man was so nice! I asked them if they deliver and they said they do! The boy and I are BIG into food delivery. As I mentioned, SeamlessWeb is my best friend. But there aren’t many places on there that are affordable and healthy. The healthier options are a bit pricey. And I am always wary of what goes into making my food these days. So I was so happy to learn that Peacefood Cafe delivers. I plan to start ordering and trying everything on the menu! And I emailed SeamlessWeb to suggest they add Peacefood Cafe to their service.

Before leaving, we approached the pastry display. The desserts all looked so good! I bought a mini brownie (keep in mind, everything is vegan) to take home. When I got home I tore into it! Sorry, no picture. But know that it was so so so so good! I have been craving a brownie for about a week now, and this one really hit the spot. Perfect small treat for my sweet tooth!

If you’re in NYC, I definitely recommend stopping at Peacefood Cafe. They also had a lot of smoothies that I am dying to try, like the Chocolate Mint – Cocoa, Avocado, Mint, Agave. Yum. Wow. I want that right now.

And of course I want to try lots more menu items. I expect this restaurant to become a staple for me.

I’m going to the Seattles tomorrow morning very early, so I probably won’t be back on the blog until the middle of next week. Maybe a little surprise before then. Maybe not. I might be spending too much time smushing this little girl:

Remember that type of puzzle on Wheel of Fortune??

So on Saturday, Missy announced some exciting news on her blog: Shape magazine contacted her to do a little feature about her weight loss a few years ago! They wanted to do a photo shoot of Missy doing an exercise she regularly does, and after the Core Fusion location didn’t work out, they decided to take pictures in a spin studio instead. The magazine told her to bring some friends along to pose as spin classmates. Missy asked me, her sister and our friend Melanie — and of course I said yes!

Early Saturday morning, I woke up and got dressed in an unusual pairing: workout clothes and full face of makeup. I walked over to the gym, which was conveniently at a New York Sports Club just a few blocks from the boy’s. I even stopped at Juice Generation along the way for a fresh pressed green juice. I arrived at the gym before the other girls, so it was just the NYSC employee, the camera men and me! It felt strange to be alone in a large gym. It also felt strange to see myself looking so even skinned and lip glossed in gym mirrors!

Shortly after Melanie arrived, and then Missy and her sister. We went into the spin room and the photographers arranged our bikes  and we got started. They instructed us to smile and snapped one picture after another. I wasn’t sure when was an appropriate time to blink, or to rest my smile for a second. I ended up not doing much of either.

But I loved it. I have to say, I could spend all day every day just smiling for cameras. I love pictures of myself! Not that I love how I look in pictures, but I just love smiling for them and being in them!

The people at this gym are kinda nuts. A spin class was starting at 9:30, so we had instructions to be out before then. At 8:45, an angry mob loomed outside the spin studio demanding entrance. Who goes to class 45 minutes before it starts?! These people were NOT happy. I also must mention that I tried to sign up for this spin class and found out that it booked up 2 days before. These people sure do love their spin. And they weren’t about to let a silly national magazine photo shoot get in the way of it!

One of these psychos was carrying a backpack from my own company’s fitness center. I didn’t say anything to him about it, but it does appear he belongs to 2 gyms. Or maybe he no longer works at my company; few do any more.

One woman in particular went especially crazy. She camped herself in front of the door and wouldn’t move, angrily mumbling to herself the entire time. She seemed to be, along with the company backpack man, the leaders of the mob.

Eventually, the mob forced their way in to the photo shoot and started setting up camp on bikes, even taking it upon themselves to MOVE the bikes back to their original locations (they were all rearranged for the shoot). These people are nuts!

After the shoot, the photographer showed us the proofs on the computer and they look amazing! Missy especially looks beautiful. The magazine comes out in January and I can’t wait!

Since spin filled up and I didn’t have regular sneakers with me (silly me), I used a wrench I carry in my gym bag to tighten my spin shoes to instead remove the hooks from the shoes. Oh G-d I hope I can get them back on. In retrospect, I really should have taken a picture of how they looked before removing them. Once I removed the feet clips I was able to go use the elliptical.

I started to feel some serious gym envy. I used to belong to a gorgeous, 7 floor (+ rooftop deck), fancy and expensive gym. After I injured my knee, started going for weekly expensive stomach treatments, and officially stopped going to my own apartment for anything other than mail, I quit that gym and started running outside and using the boy’s building gym.

Now, running outside season is over. The building gym is so boring I cannot bring myself to get there. There are no TVs that you can actually listen to and they have the type of ellipticals that I hate — as in, the type that have NO incline option. I never get a good workout on them! There are some boring treadmills, although I need like a TV to run anything more than 3 miles on them — if I even get to the place to do that (oy I sound like a whiny brat.). There is one very old stairmaster and a couple of even older bikes. I am not complaining! Having a building gym is a luxury that I never knew before, and it was so cool for me at first. But the coolness wore off as I find myself opting to sit at home watching TV rather than go there. It is just too boring and un-fun to take.

So here I am at a gym with tons and ton of machines. Machines I never even heard of! There is one that is like an elliptical and a stepper combined — anyone know of that one? It looked so cool! There are regular treadmills and also unusual treadmills that I am not sure the purpose of  — but would love to find out. There are so many of the ellipticals I love and miss (WITH incline) and also a bunch of the ones I don’t like as much. There are stairmasters and even the kind with moving stairs. Those are hard and I never get to do it anymore. And the best part of it all? Every single machine had its own TV. Every. Single. Machine.

And there are classes. When I was in the spin room for the photo shoot, Missy’s awesome house music was playing and I felt like I was in a class — and I wanted, craved, to be in a spin class. I miss it. I will never go overboard with it again, maybe once or twice a week at most, but I do miss it. I loved it, it was a part of my life. And there are some other classes as well, although this definitely seems like more of a machine gym for me.

As I was happily trotting away on the elliptical, I got to thinking. My thoughts went something like this:

I am sweating so much after just 15 minutes on this elliptical. I never sweat on the apartment elliptical. I can set this to intervals! It does the hard work for me, I just have to follow along. I am getting such a great workout, I will never have another workout like this all winter long. And the treadmills! I can definitely run good distances with my own TV! And I want to do that stair machine, and that hybrid machine and those strange treadmills. I want the option of spin.

If I stick with the apartment gym, the way things have been going, I will rarely work out. Look at me now. I ran a couple times a week outside to prep for my race, but the race is tomorrow and then what? On my training plan’s “cross-training” days, I didn’t even cross train. I just sat on the couch! If I belonged here, I would go and actually get some good workouts in. My endurance is so low, my strength non existent, I think I could improve my mood and myself if I join this gym.

Uhhh yeah. As for distance, it is not super close to the boy’s but it is an easy walk when the weather is agreeable and an easy bus ride door to door when it is not. And there is a NYSC across the street from work, so that would double my chances of making it to the gym. I always wanted to be able to workout during lunch and it always bothered me that I wasn’t allowed to join my own company gym due to a stupid rule that is surely causing them to lose a lot of money these days.

So, armed with the information of what all my friends who belong there pay, I marched myself to the membership office prepared to join. I figured especially now, during this economy, gyms were not doing so well. I read an article about it in the paper not long ago. I figured there must be some really great rates to get members in.

Wrong!

The price they gave me for the Gold membership, which would get me full access to my home gym and off peak access to other NYSCs was a much higher price than all my friends pay for their better Passport membership, which gets them access to all NYSCs at all hours. I told them this but they didn’t seem to care. The price discrepancy was huge, with the smallest being a $20 a month difference and the largest much more than that. But that is not even the issue. The issue is that I just can’t afford it. I don’t have the money.

So I left.

But of course I couldn’t stop thinking about it. My mind was set. And I wondered why I can’t afford the price they gave me . . . and of course, it hit me quickly, since I’m not an idiot.

I can’t afford a gym membership because I pay, in addition to $500/month on health insurance, about $650/month on other medical treatments, appointments, prescriptions, etc to maintain my day to day life with as little pain as possible. $500 alone is devoted completely to a weekly treatment I receive. It is no wonder I can’t afford a gym membership.

So I started thinking. One less treatment a week could help me pay for the gym. But then what about my GI health? But then what about my health cardiovascularly? What about my strength? What about being able to get out of bed in the morning without crying in pain?

Therein lies the predicament.

I want so much to create a healthy balance in my life: food, fitness, overall health. This balance is not possible as my overall health takes up ALL my resources. I already can’t eat salad. Now I can’t go to the gym?

Of course, all these stresses reinforce the fact that I now want to have this surgery. I need my life back.

I’m sure some of you are thinking I could try and get a discount from my health insurance (requires a year commitment and only saves a couple dollars) or from my job (same exact deal as the insurance, right down to the discount company used). So those options are not possible.

Back to the issue at hand. I decided to try and cut back on one medical treatment a month so I could have some money for the gym. This was a very hard decision and I am not 100% sure if it is the right one, but the gym is not permanent. I could be done after just 2 months if I decide it isn’t worth it. But since it is now two days after the photo shoot and I am still obsessing over the idea of a gym membership, I think I need to try. This is how I am. I obsess until I do. But first, I get to sample! Missy is giving me a free 1 week guest pass to New York Sports Club, so I can try the gym out for a week and then decide for sure what I want to do.

Although you know as well as I do that my decision has already been made. I am joining a gym.

After my free trial week is up, of course.

Do you consider the gym/working out a priority? Do you think it is worth it to spend a little money for your health?

Hello. It is only 12pm on a Sunday and I feel like I already went through a full day.

I spent much more time than planned last night creating the perfect 5 mile race playlist for the Poland Spring 5 Mile Marathon Kickoff race. I based it off the great playlist I have been using during my training runs but amped it up a bit and changed some things around. I removed songs that I knew I would miss but were not perfect for this particular race. I listened to lots of songs and tested them out. It was a lot of work but in the end I wound up with this:

I included the genre list in here because I thought it was hilarious that Girl Talk was labeled “Gangsta.” Haha!

When I finally had it, I knew it was the perfect playlist in the perfect order to keep me feeling good throughout the 5 miles. The total time for the music was about 55 minutes, which I felt was ambitious yet doable. I figured I would get to hear all the music; if I was making a really great pace, all but one song.

Around 11pm, I went to bed, content with the playlist and with enough time to get a good night’s sleep before my 6:35 alarm time. And then I couldn’t fall asleep. I was jittery and shaky and my jaw was killing me and as the time went by I kept thinking about how many hours of sleep I would be getting before the race if I fell asleep right then. My mind was racing. Maybe it was because of my 2 hour late afternoon nap that day or maybe it was race jitters or maybe it was just one of those nights. Eventually I decided that I was too hot to sleep and some AC would help. After I got that on, a squeaking sound started in the wall. I moved to the living room to try and sleep there, but the sound was even louder in there. The sound was coming from IN the wall between the bedroom and living room. I started to really freak out. Eventually, the sound stopped and at some point I fell asleep.

I woke up on my own 5 minutes before my alarm and jumped out of bed. in there!

A few minutes after 8:30, the race finally began. I didn’t hear any starting gun or sound, but it must have happened. As a result, I have no idea how long after the official start I reached the start line. Once I got to the start, I pressed play on my iPod and start on my Polar HRM. For once in my life, I did not try to weave around people and find a clearing. I just enjoyed the start of the race and knew I could always speed up later on.

I looked down at my watch a minute later to get an idea of my pace, and the screen read CHECK FOOTPOD.

Shit! I forgot to start my footpod, which is how my distance and pace gets tracked. I started to get upset and annoyed at myself. In my mental checklist, I never once factored starting my foot pod into it. While waiting so long for the race to start in my corral, it didn’t even occur to me. Damn.

At this point I had 3 options:

1. Pull myself over to the side and turn my footpod on (requires a 5 second button press)
2. Keep running to not lose any time but beat myself up the entire time and lament not tracking my speed, distance and heart rate
3. Keep running to not lose any time, enjoy the race, stop caring about something so inconsequential and just have fun

Although my tendency is to lean towards option #2, based on past experience in running and in life, I opted for choice #3. In the time I had spent worrying about what to do, I already missed taking in the beauty of Central Park in the fall and enjoying the sites in my run up to that point. As soon as I made the decision not to stress, I noticed just how gorgeous my surroundings were. I realized how perfect my music choices were and I felt great. I started smiling and literally did not stop for the next 2 miles!

I did think that other runners/spectators might think I am a crazy lady for running, clearly alone with no friends surrounding me, with a huge goofy smile plastered on my face. But I just felt so great and was so happy to be there, I didn’t care!

The first song, Dreaming of You by The Coral, went by very quickly. I couldn’t even believe how fast it ended, I must have been so sweeped up in the beginning of the race and my HRM issues. Next up was a Girl Talk song, Here’s the Thing, which immediately put me in a great mood, and that is when my smiling began. I couldn’t help but mouth the words, wishing I could just sing out loud! Especially one line in particular that I can’t say on the blog. But Melissa didn’t impress the other runners when she did it, so I decided it would be a bad idea for me to sing as well.

By the way, here is the race course:

This was my first time running the big loop! I want to do it more when the weather warms up, it is gorgeous.

Back to the race. OAR’s Hey Girl always makes me happy when I run and today was no different. My smile continued. And I love the way the park smells. I was running at a decent pace and not pushing myself at all. I was breathing carefully and felt no pain. The weather, so cold while waiting, felt perfect and I removed my jacket and tied it around my waist. I don’t remember which of these events came first, the mile 1 marker or my current favorite running song, Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti (who I saw in concert with Counting Crows in August), but both perked me up big time!

When I saw the mile 1 marker, I could not believe it! It was, without a doubt, the easiest mile I have ever ran in my life. Total opposite from my 1 mile race last month, huh?

The clock at this point said 14 min something. I had no idea how many minutes I began after the race actually started, so I decided to use this time for my starting point and keep track of how many minutes my miles were from there.

Hard Candy by the Counting Crows is always a lot of fun to run and mouth lyrics to. Especially the lines that go . . . actually no. Every line is fun to run to. Try it sometime. I tried to alternate genre of my songs, so after Hard Candy was another Girl Talk song, Shut the Club Down. This song is so much fun! I only added it to my running playlist last week but look forward to many more runs with it. It made me feel great, smile some more, enjoy mile 2 and not care about my HRM.

Help was next! I had the idea to find an upbeat Beatles song for my run last night and if you have ever seen Love in Vegas or listened to the CD, the remastered songs are awesome. And my best friend Emily was in that show for 3 years — in fact, her boyfriend did a rollerblading routine during Help in that show, so whenever I hear the song, I always think of him skating up and down the ramps and flipping in the air. Help is fast and fun and quick. During the song I battled a hill, so I really did need Help!

I’m not sure which came first, the next Girl Talk song (Once Again) or the mile 3 mark, but I decided to do something I had never done before: take water from a water station! I was started to feel a little blah and needed a pick me up. I tossed a tiny sip to avoid any cramps, threw the cup in the garbage and was back on my way. At this point, my right hip started acting up, but it wasn’t so bad that it affected my pace. More of a nuisance than anything. But the time at mile 2 was 10 minutes after my mile 1 time, so I knew I was keeping a good pace!

The next song was Einstein on the Beach, one of my favorite Counting Crows songs to run to. I used to have it earlier in my playlist, so it was nice to hear it later on today. The song has one of the best beats of all the Counting Crows’ songs. Best lines to mouth/sing out loud to during my early morning runs when no one is around me? “The world begins to disappear, the worst things come from inside here.” Love it.

I interrupt this wordy post to show you a picture of the very nice race t-shirt:

OK back to the main event: The race was definitely becoming more challenging by this point. My smiles were gone and I was just trying to get through it. Dave Matthews Band’s Alligator Pie (Cockadile) came on at this point, and as excited as I had been for this song and it’s intense energy and beat, I barely remember hearing it. I must have been really struggling at that point if I wasn’t able to enjoy or even take much notice of the song.

Luckily, the next song was one I really needed to hear: Say Hey (I Love You), again! Being my favorite running song and easiest way to get my spirits up, I knew I would need it twice in this race. I do wish I split the two instances up a little further because I felt like I just heard it, but it is OK! I felt pretty good and started smiling again. Then I saw n official race photographer and stared right at his lens with a giant smile on my face. That picture BETTER come out! I am never in any race pictures! I began to wonder how many other photographers I passed without even realizing! Next up was another Counting Crows song, Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby. Counting Crows songs are just so upbeat and fun to run and sing to!

Sometime during this song I saw the water station signifying the approaching 4 mile marker. I became SO happy at this point seeing that there was about to be just 1 mile left in my 5 mile race, 4 completed. I started thinking about how just a few months ago I told the boy, after some unsuccessful attempts at running that running was simply not for me. My hip hurt, my knee hurt, my chest hurt and breathing was difficult. Then I had a successful but challenging 25 minute run, which was an amazing accomplishment for me! After that, I kept with it, and here I am a few months later not only running in a 5 mile race, but feeling really great at mile 4!

I decided to grab another quick sip of water at the station, only this time it was a little harder to quickly make my way back. Oh, well. I approached the 4 mile mark (again, about 10 minutes after mile 3) and almost immediately my bad knee failed me. The pain was sudden and intense as I realized I could barely bend my leg. My legs had started hurting as well, and I had to really slow down. I think it was a combination of all the hills in Central Park and my slightly faster than usual pace that did me in. That and the fact that my knee pain usually starts at around 4.5 miles.

I stopped feeling as great and I just wanted to finish. Each recognizable spot during the race brought me a sense of comfort — the crossing the 102nd street transverse, seeing 5th avenue on my left, seeing Essex House (right near Core Fusion) on Central Park South. And now I finally saw the Time Warner Center on my left, and knew I only had 7 blocks to go. The banana guy was near me, and once again I thought about how hot he must be in that banana!

This race finishes at the NYC Marathon finish line by Tavern on the Green. I wanted to speed up so I could get this race over with and finish strong, but my knee was having none of it. My breathing was also getting more difficult. And a torturous uphill that approached. I hadn’t noticed the hills being particularly bad during the race, which was strange since it is Central Park! But here I felt it. My upbeat song, Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That by Robert Randolph was uplifting but successful in speeding me up. I do believe that if it wasn’t for my debilitating patella femoral pain, I could have sped up and finished by the end of this song. Since that was not the case, my final playlist song, Lord of Tranz – Sanctificum by DJ Tiesto came on.

I put this song last because I knew that if I got to it, I would need it to give me the final boost I needed and push me through the finish line as best I could. I decided to do my best to sprint but the course had narrowed and I was squished with a lot of other runners here. I sped up as best I could before the finish line but a true sprint was impossible. One minute into this song (perfect indicator of pace, huh!), I crossed the finish line strong, proud and, once again, with a huge smile on my face!

I was smiling for myself — look how much I had accomplished! I was smiling for the official race cameras — would I finally make it into a photo? I was smiling for the boy — who came with my camera and strict instructions to take my photo as I ran through the finish line.

The boy was to recognize my approach by my hot pink headband.

A few seconds before I finished, the banana guy finished and the announcer made some joke about how some people here are bananas. It was a funny joke (clearly I killed its delivery/message) and I laughed and kept that smile straight through the finish line. But the boy was distracted by the banana as well. While he didn’t take a picture of him (too bad!), he also missed my finish line cross.

However, I saw him in his great finish line spot. I was so impressed that he grabbed such a great spot and I smiled right at him as I crossed. But he was looking straight past me. I walked over to him, stood in front of him, and tapped him on the shoulder. Boo. My bright pink headband failed to catch his attention and the race was over. So I made him take a picture of me then.

Here I am right afer the finish line (see the boy’s great spot!), post race glow!

I am kinda bummed that my placement of the boy at the finish line failed to result in a photo of me (same thing happened with Rae at my first 5K). Oh well, he tried his best! It really is hard because so many people cross the finish line at once.

So the race was finished! I felt really, really amazing! Yes, my knee was killing me and I couldn’t bend it and could barely walk. Yes, I was freezing. But I set a goal for myself after my 1 mile race, and that goal was to run at a comfortable pace and enjoy myself. I am happy to say this goal was achieved!

I felt so good during most of this race. Running 5 miles was not too hard at all! I do need to work on getting stronger (ahem, Core Fusion) in my legs so I don’t suffer as much leg pain from running going forward. I am SO happy I ran in this race and was able to take part in the NYC Marathon kickoff event!

OH! I almost forgot to discuss my official time! That’s because I am so much less nutty about speedy times after my 1 mile experience! But I am so happy to announce that I did awesome! Running at  comfortable pace the entire time, my official chip time for 5 miles is 51:19. That is an average 10:15 mile! I am so happy!

Race pictures are up on the site, now, and once again I am not in any. There are so few photos are all! There is this one with banana guy. But really, why bother having ptofessional photographers along the course if you’re only going to put up a few pictures?

I passed on the delicious chocolate chip bagel that saved me after the 5th Avenue Mile because the boy and I had a delicious brunch in mind. Brunch turned into breakfast when we realized it was  too early for brunch places to be open, and we enjoyed a fantastic meal at a diner! We split an egg quesadilla and a belgian waffle. Mmmmmm….

As cold as I was before and after the race, as much as I declared loudly and to anyone who would listen that this race would signify the end of my outdoor running for the year . . . well, racing is addicting. Achieving goals is fun and gives working out a short term purpose. And it feels SO great when you cross that finish line. So . . .

I registered for another race! The boy and I will be running in the Race to Deliver 4 mile race on November 22. Since I have an intense fear and hatred of the cold, the plan is to cab it to the start line and arrive 15 minutes before race start. As soon as the race is finished, cab it right back home! Yes, I am a baby when it comes to being cold. But now I have another race to look forward to. And 4 miles seems like the perfect distance — it is a nice distance but not so much that it will kill my knee. And I get to run it with the boy (who couldn’t run today’s for work reasons).

My knee is still pretty bad. I’ve been icing it. Also, my right arm is killing me. My right arm is my good arm (the left had the injury) so I really hope this is nothing serious! How did I even hurt it? I also did fine without my HRM! I was mostly disappointed because I was hoping to check its accuracy with the known 5 miles, but I’m pretty confident in its readings and know that any issues are due to my calibration errors. I do plan to recalibrate on a real track as soon as I can get to one, although it likely won’t be until next spring. It definitely felt freeing not being tempted to look down at my wrist at all during the race. It helped me to enjoy the run and just take it for what it was — a fun event. The miles came and went and why do I need to know exactly how fast I am going or how long I have until the next mile? It is definitely necessary when training, but during a race I have to say my experience was heightened without using it! I do plan to use it in future races because it is a great tool, but now I know I can get by without looking at it and have a terrific time, which is how I plan to do it.

Anyway, I’m going to the Seattles from Thursday to Sunday to see a brother, a Mallory and a puppy, and I have writing class until late Wednesday, so I won’t be around much this week to post blogs. I do have a post about gym memberships and a fun photo shoot I was part of, so I will be back at least once more this week!

I am still in shock that I ran in a 5 mile race and did a good job! Have you ever accomplished something you at first thought was not for you/you could never do?

Thanks friends!

Edited to add: I made it into a race photo after all!

True story. But first, an admission: Although I technically live in Manhattan, the apartment is so far away from the thick of it all that the boy calls it a suburb of Manhattan. As a result, I have never in my nearly 4 months of running outside run on city streets. One of the benefits of being in the burbs is having an actual running trail right in front of the apartment. All I have to do is run down a ramp and I am there!

I skipped my planned 5 mile run on Sunday — my last 5 mile run before next Sunday’s 5 mile race — because I got my hair blown out on Saturday (redeeming my free visit from Blow — remember that story? Well let’s just say this visit did not go smoothly either. More on that in an upcoming post). As a result, I did not want to mess up my hair. I chose to forego my training plan run in favor of pretty hair.

I set my alarm to wake up in the icy cold Monday morning for a boring treadmill session, but when I woke up my stomach was not having it. So the run had to wait. Tuesday had a much better forecast, so I decided to get an outside run in Tuesday morning — perfect. On Monday night, my stomach once again rebelled. This time, in the form of a pregnant lady’s belly or perhaps a basketball. I happened to glance down and was shocked to see my stomach in front of my face. It was huge! Massive. I looked pregnant and my maternal instinct told me to lovingly rub this massive bump of a belly. So I did.

My love for my unborn air bubble quickly subsided when I started to freak out. I have seen my tummy in all states of bloat, but this seemed worse than it has ever been. Or, more likely, worse than it has been in a very long time. Not only did I look about 5 or 6 months preggo, but the skin was taut and my stomach felt very strange to the touch.

In my freak out state, I took a photo of the belly, shirt rolled up in pregnant lady fashion. I sent it to Cassie in a state of alarm. I sent it to my brother with the message “GET IN MY BELLY.” I started to get worked up not only because I was in extreme pain and felt so much discomfort, but because I am still a girl and I can’t help but associate big belly with fat. Obviously I did not go from skinny to fat in the course of a few hours. But tell that to the girl with the giant balloon belly. Balloon Belly! That’s what they’ll call me!

I also was alarmed about my health. Why was this happening now? What was going on? The boy, a doctor, performed the doctor tap tap test, and bestowed on me the clinical diagnosis of air. Cassie agreed. The boy was concerned that something else was going on as well, and we discussed which hospital’s emergency room we would grace with our presence should my condition become worse. Luckily for both of us (me because pain sucks and him because he is studying for a big test) no ER visit was necessary. We fell asleep and although I woke up throughout the night nauseous (the boy says the word should be nauseated. why?), I was able to get up at 6 am for my outdoor run.

Because it doesn’t get light until 7 am now, I was not comfortable running on the path by the water in the dark. I opted to run on city streets which I had never done before, being in the burbs and all. I was a little worried about the traffic lights but figured it would be a nice change of pace. And it really was. I loved this run!

I felt great the entire time, comfy in my new Zensah leg compression sleeves and new Zobha workout pants (purchased at an online sale to have another pair of workout pants that can double as work pants, stretching to fit around my tum). There was lots to look at and no route to follow, so I got to explore the city. I ran where I wanted, when I wanted. Sticking of course to major populated streets. Thanks to my Polar RS300X sd, I knew my distance the entire time. I really just went with it on this run. If I wanted to run on a certain street or look for a restaurant I’d been meaning to try, I did. If I wanted to circle around the same block twice, I did. I felt extra camaraderie with the runners I ran into because we were running on the street! Sure, anyone can run on a running path. But here we all were on the street! Instant bondage bonding. Eventually, I headed home to make my 7:00 am curfew, and arrived at the door after 40:35 minutes of running 3.61 miles.

And today I felt so much better about my pregnant bloat that I felt comfortable sending the picture to a bunch of friends. I am so proud of my little bundle of joy air. Okay, proud is not at all correct. Coming to terms with it is more like it. I have not been feeling well at all lately . . . and my days of fitting into my pants have returned. Just in time for pants season. Woo hoo. I will call the surgeon next week to check in.

So, back to the matter at hand — almond cookies. Kinda.

So what happened was Gena posted this Almond Milk recipe and obviously I had to make it, and have to going forward every week of my life. So I made the milk, purchased a nut milk bag, and wound up with lots of almond pulp in addition to my heavenly milk. By the way, never buying Blue Diamond again.

I didn’t want to just toss the almond pulp like I toss my juice pulp every day, and the boy happens to love all treats almond (as do I), so I decided to make some almond cookies! A recipe online here, a recipe online there, I didn’t fully read any but I got the gist of what to mix together to make cookies. The problem? I don’t own all purpose flour. But! My gluten free pancake mix is actually called pancake AND baking mix. And they provide a recipe for muffins right on the bag! I figured, if it can make muffins, it can make cookies! Right?

So I mixed up all my ingredients (including agave! no sugar!) into a yummy batter. Then I greased a baking pan and shaped the dough like cookies on the pan. See photo:

Put in the oven at 350. I don’t actually know what cooking temperature is good for what, but I vaguely recalled reading the number 350 in one of the recipes I fleetingly glanced at.

After a little while, I went in to check on the cookies. They looked big and puffy and in major need of a flipping. I flipped them all over, thinking they looked suspiciously more like pancakes than cookies. They cooked on the other side and when I deemed them finished — can you imagine the delicious almond smells making their way through the apartment? — I removed them from the oven. They were definitely ready. But they definitely were NOT cookies.

The almond cookies I baked turned out to be almond pancakes.

I accidentally made pancakes! I am thinking this flour does NOT work to make cookies.

I have to admit, they taste great. Like, really great. Like, I’m upset I already ate dinner because I would have loved to have an almond pancake dinner. After eating some large crumbs/chunks of pancake, I put the pancakes on a plate and covered it in tinfoil. The boy emerged from his chamber of study and tasted a pancake. He LOVED it. I am so happy because I think he is generally skeptical of agave. But he does love his almond flavored treats, and this certainly qualifies. And now he has breakfast for tomorrow! He even gets to pour maple syrup on it.

So even though I failed miserably at masking cookies, at least I have a recipe to use with my almond pulp until I figure the whole cookie thing out — almond pancakes! Only next time, I think I’ll use my griddle . . .

Hi friends! Last week I randomly selected three winners of my Core Fusion and Physique 57 DVD contest. I gave the winners one week to claim their prizes, Two of those winners have claimed their prize. One, however, did not.

Which means I get to randomly select another winner!

I went back to my trusty Random Integer Generator and Mr. Generator said:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

38

#38 – Jen P

Fact about Jen P: Jen P. has viewed bugs much like those pictured below and has determined them to be flying sperm.

Congratulations Jen! Please email me by next Tuesday to claim your prize. If I do not hear from you, I will choose another winner at that time.