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2011 DSB Year in Review

Happy new year! Last year I posted my 2010 DSB Year in Review a little earlier — as in, before the new year — but I also had a lot less going on in my life (read: I had no access to a couch in which to sit and do nothing for hours on end). I ended that post with “I am excited to see where 2011 takes us!” I sometimes lament on how I don’t understand time, and when I wrote that post I did not think for a second about writing this 2011 version, knowing exactly where 2011 took me. I’m glad to be able to say that this year was even better, which I wasn’t sure was even possible at the time.

I never could have known when I wrote last year’s recap that by the same time next year, I would have run one and two-thirds marathons, filmed an online webisode for a huge search engine, fall in love for the first time, find a great job and get quoted in the biggest newspaper in the world, to name just a few. And as always, this blog was instrumental in most of my year.

And if you are one of the 37,000 people who found my blog this past weekend from Texgate lol, I want to say welcome and also that I was advised once to work on not getting frustrated with people who are dumb, but instead to feel fortunate that I (and all of you non-idiots) have a gift that they don’t. It is a very lovely way to think about the world. That said, please send me comments or emails about stupid people you might like to see ridiculed here.

I don’t see the world in such a lovely way.

Anyway, here we go with my 2011 DSB Year in Review . . .

January

On January 1, I rang in the 2011 new year with blogger friends old and new and proclaimed that my goal for 2011 was to find a career where I am writing and doing social media related to health & fitness. I actually achieved that goal (See July ) and even though my job isn’t 100% health & fitness, I am thrilled with what I am doing and there is some fitness-related stuff going on there.

Dori and Missy NYE 2011

On January 26, I felt legitimized as a blogger who happens to love fitness when I was quoted on page 2 in the New York Times article “Full-Service Gyms Feel A Bit Flabby about getting the most out of my workouts with dedicated, boutique fitness classes.

February

On February 1, I shared my response to that NY Times article — namely that the reason people pay so much for boutique fitness classes and even join on top of already-expensive gym memberships is because these classes produce results.

After alluding to my hip injury that was preventing me from running and taking some of my favorite exercise classes, I finally explained it to everyone in a two part series: My Hip Injury – Part 1 and My Hip Injury – Part 2

Also in February, the amazing exhale spa (home of Core Fusion classes) offered me the chance to try acupuncture to help with my hip. Naturally, I accepted.

March

In early March, a doctor told me I was too pale to run a marathon. This “sports doctor” orthopedist seemed very sure of himself as he chuckled at me for even wanting to do such a thing while my hue was so fair.

And he had some bad timing, since I also started writing a weekly column called Dori’s Quest for NBC New York’s GO Healthy NY website, in which my first post was called How I Got Into The Greatest Marathon in the World.

Dori running first qualifying race for 2011 NYC Marathon

The best part of March — of every March — is my favorite time of year, my birthday, at which everyone pays attention to Dori. Everyone has to be nice to me and buy me drinks and I get to be a self-absorbed asshole on this blog and post tons of pictures of myself.

Case in point:

Dori at her birthday 2011

The other best part of March? Meeting the boy who likes sitting on the couch and doing nothing as much as I do. And he actually owns a couch so really that’s why I love him.

Dori and Andy

I promise I own more than one dress.

April

I fulfilled my dream of attending a Wendy Williams show taping, and appeared on the show on April 12 with my blogging friend Heather (formerly of Hangry Pants fame). Here we are beside Rudy Huxtable’s real life mom:

Dori and Heather at Wendy Williams

I also published two freelance articles for the incredible Blisstree.com:

And on April 26, it was time to write a blog post but I didn’t have anything to write about. Then my friend forwarded me an email and I just had to make fun of it. Publicly. It epitomized my friend’s and my saying: What is wrong with EVERYONE?! And so the most popular post in my entire blogging career — by far — was created:

Texting and Dating, or Texgate lol 2011 

Have I mentioned how much I love the internet?

May

I finally made it as a blogger after a commenter called me a self entitled c*nt.

In non-texgate news, I started running again after taking six months off from my hip injury and felt like my November NYC Marathon dream might actually be possible after all.

Dori running again

June

On June 11, Missy and I hosted a free IntenSati class as part of the Be Fit NYC initiative on how to make NYC your gym, and even though we had to change the location (it was too rainy for Central Park), lots of people came and it was a huge success as evidenced by this photo of my ass:

Dori's butt at IntenSati

And even though I guaranteed had entry to the ING NYC Marathon, I decided to also run the race as part of the Girls on the Run charity program called Solemates because, why not? For the second time (first here), my blog readers helped me raise money for an amazing cause!

July

I explained why July is my favorite month of the year (it is REAL SUMMER!) and in unrelated news my roommate moved out of our 320 square goot apartment. I still do not have a place to put things. I also fulfilled my dream of being recognized for taking the best race photographs of all time and appeared on the NYRR.org homepage!

Dori on NYRR

On July 11, I started training for the ING NYC Marathon — a goal I had in the works for over a year, and the biggest thing I wanted to achieve in 2011.

I also accepted a job offer, accomplishing the goal I mentioned earlier of finding a career that involved writing and social media in the wellness world. Really, I am the social media manager for a number of beauty brands (such as Hydroxatone and Sarah McNamara Beauty) but I love it and I’ve got some wellness-related items in the works there too.

I finished the month with a surprise PR in the Queens Half Marathon — my first half marathon post-injury and one I did not train or plan to run my fastest half marathon at 2:06:27 in. Because I learned I can run a sub-10 minute mile half marathon without great training, this race inspired me to do train correctly and do even better in the half marathon distance next year. I have an ambitious goal for 2012.

Dori Queens Half Marathon

August

I revealed the secret video shoot I had been alluding to on my blog for almost two months with my Bing: Friends Matter webisode filmed at Refine Method (founder Brynn Jinnett appears in the video), The Gym at Chelsea Piers and Central Park. This was all about how our friends influence our decision, and exists because of Bing’s partnership with Facebook.

While I was in the best shape of my life during that shoot (which happened in June), in August I started feeling run down and — for the first time since I fell in love with exercise in January 2010 — burnt out.  Goes to show that everyone, no matter who they are or how strong — goes through periods where motivating to work out is hard.

Luckily before that happened, I ran a strong 14 miles — the longest run of my life to date, and the first time I ran farther than the half marathon distance. And it was just a week after my half marathon PR!

Dori at 14 mile run

And in response to a reader’s question about how I stay in shape, I also explained why I don’t tell you what I eat.

Also in August I was the subject of an interview with my friend Ben Waldman of Motivate Your Ass for NBC New York for his column called Extraordinary Motivation.

September

I ran 15 miles for the first time in my life, and I ran it by myself, which is highly unusual for me with crazy long distances.  I also decided to stop writing for NBC New York’s GO Healthy NY blog because I had less time with my new job.

I ran the 18 Mile Marathon Tune-Up — a race I ran past the year before and knew it would one day be me — where it would appear I outran death:

Dori and Masked Runner    Dori and Masked Runner 2

October

Surprise! I ran 20 miles for the first time — and felt great — on a day I had 19 on my schedule.

Dori's first 20

And then I ran my planned 20 miler!  With no route planned, Z and I ended up at LaGuardia Airport and Riker’s Island. Those two 20-mile runs both went so great, and I felt so strong both during and after, that I knew I could run 26.2. All doubt about the distance vanished and I felt confident.

20 miler route

November

After a year of qualifying through the NYRR 9+1 program, four months of training, lots of anticipation, excitement and anxiety, and thinking/talking about nothing else for months, it was finally time for the ING NYC Marathon on November 6. Like many things we plan, the race didn’t go as I expected. After suffering indescribable, freak upper-GI pain for a good nine miles, I made the extremely heartbreaking, difficult decision to leave the race at mile 18.

Dori running ING NYC Marathon

A week later, I surprised most people when I announced that I finished the SunTrust Richmond Marathon in 4:33:29! I completed my first marathon on November 11, 2011 – a good 20 minutes faster than I thought I’d finish. I was so happy and thankful that everything worked out the way it did.

Running that race was the greatest four hours of my life and I still wish I was back inside of it.

Dori at Richmond Marathon    Dori finishing Richmond Marathon

On November 22, I announced I was axing Tuesday Blags and instead going to blog when I felt like it. So far, I’ve failed miserably. Happy Tuesday!

December

On December 6, I reflected on what my two years of loving exercise has taught me about myself, which may all have canceled  each other out by points such as “I am lazy” and “I am an underachiever” juxtaposed with “I like pushing myself” and “I am tough on myself.”

I went to my new(ish) job’s holiday party on December 8 which validated my decision to accept said job when I saw they brought in both a caricature artist and a photo booth.

Dori and Andy caricature

My last post of 2011 was a long-winded explanation of my workout goals for 2012. The short-winded version? I’m only going to take classes I know are excellent or actually want to take, and I am not going to try new classes (either out of curiosity or for review) unless I really, really want to.

And lastly, in December, I received the most thoughtful, meaningful, best present of my life when my brother and sister-in-law sent me this word cloud from my own blog to commemorate my marathon finish. It looks like a sneaker and is fascinating:

So, yeah. I’d say 2011 was pretty great. I ran 585 miles, took more Refine Method and Core Fusion Cardio classes than I can count, ran a marathon, fell in love with a sweet boy with a couch and got an amazing job. I’m in worse shape physically than I was at this time last year, but now that I’m back into taking classes I think things will turn around. And throughout this past year — especially after I was a wreck from my DNF in the NYC Marathon and after I was elated from completing the Richmond Marathon — the support from your comments and emails helped me get through everything. When you’re happy for me, I feel happier for myself. When you commiserate with me, I feel better knowing I’m not alone.

I could not have achieved many of my 2011 accomplishments without this blog and without your support.

I still don’t know what will happen with DSB and my posting frequency, but I can’t imagine not having this record of every month of my life so I’m sure I’ll figure something out. I’ve got great things coming up in 2012 and as always, I’m excited to share it as it happens here.

(1) IntenSati Success (2) Exercise Pain (3) Writing Stuffs

(1) Missy’s and my free IntenSati class for BeFitNYC.org Launch Week

THANK YOU to everyone who came to the BeFitNYC.org launch week event that Missy and I held this past Saturday. Our IntenSati class was a huge success and I am still so happy with how many people showed up — even with the 11th hour location change from Central Park to an indoor space because of the weather.

We selected the biggest studio in Simple Studios and the room was still packed. It got hot and sweaty, but the class was so much fun I don’t think we minded much! I’m not generally a big sweater; I walked to and from work on that 100 degree day in NYC last week, a little over a mile each way and did not sweat a drop. But in this class, I was completely soaked, the bottom of my ponytail was sopping wet, my face was shiny and I felt awesome. I’ve only done IntenSati once before (when Missy taught for the first time!), but I got so into this class! Our instructor Lindsay was extremely motivating and awesome, and I had the best time. I still find myself repeating the catchy affirmations to myself — which I believe is the point.

Enjoy our butts:

Here I am with Missy in our post-class glow (sweat).

I loved the class so much that I decided to go to a CoreSati and IntenSati class at Equinox with Missy next week to take class with its founder Patricia Moreno! I completely get why Missy and many other people love this class so much. I wish I had the courage to try it when the gym I used to belong to offered it a few years ago! I thought IntenSati meant “intense” (it doesn’t) so I was scared away.  This was before I became a hardcore awesome exerciser.

So the giveaway winners.

I’ve gotta be honest, I threw in my very own Physique 57 DVD because I know you all get wet for that class, so I was a little surprised more people didn’t RSVP just to say no to enter the contest. Oh well. Better odds for the winners and really, I am beyond thrilled by how smoothly the event went.

The winner of the Physique 57 Classic 57 Minute Full Body Workout and IntenSati Great Body, Great Life and other DVDs prize pack goes to Emily!

And the runners up  who won a free YogaVibes class — and I have to apologize, I had 3 classes to give away, not 5 like I initially thought —  are Sam, Grace and Amber.

Thank you so much for entering and thank you for helping make NYC your gym! This is not the end of my partnership with BeFitNYC.org so I hope to announce more exciting events soon.

(2) On to the next topic:

I tried a new class on Friday that temporarily destroyed me. In addition to physical bruising and torn skin, I thought I messed up my hip again. I spent Sunday crying and being angry at myself. I work so hard in the classes I know well — mostly Refine and Core Fusion, but I also know how to modify yoga, barre, strength, cardio and other similar classes — that in this situation, the exercises were all so new and different that I had no idea my hip would take it so badly. I did not think that I might destroy all the work I did for months over the course of ONE hour.

It did not hurt at all during the class, and I didn’t do the things that I know typically affect it, like turning my hip out. However, looking back, there was definitely flexion over 90 degrees as part of exercises like bear crawls, but the class was a boot camp and you kind of just have to go with it. It was intense and I didn’t really think much except how to push through in the moment. I didn’t think before or during the class about whether something so unfamiliar might be a bad idea. I was so excited to review the class for NBC New York, a brand new type of class for me — which, I must add, was the hardest workout of my life and actually very awesome for people who like ass-kicking boot camps — that I just didn’t think much about how my body would respond.

I was not being dumb by going to the class. I was not in any hip pain before or during. I just wish I thought more about my decision to try something I would not automatically know how to modify. I got a little too confident in my own abilities, when in reality I am just a girl who learned how to modify the things she does every day. I am not a fitness professional or expert (although I have been toying with this idea lately . . .) and therefore I do not have the knowledge to adjust to every possible fitness scenario. Lesson learned. While I am marathon training, I am going to stick to exercises I am comfortable with — and there are plenty of classes I can try that fit that formula — and not go for anything too out of the ordinary.

After the marathon, when I am not as concerned about my ability to run for 5 straight hours, I can revisit different types of workouts.

So I basically spent Sunday feeling depressed and beating myself up (I am trying to be less of a bitch to myself, but it is hard) because my hip was hurting more than it ever did when I was injured. I could barely walk and I could not even lift my leg to get into bed! I had to get in on my good side and then use both hands to hoist my other leg up onto the bed. I also could not put on a pair of pants. I was certain I destroyed my months of hard work, rest and healing that I went through to get my hip better. Up until last week, I was running again! Pain-free! And then suddenly I could barely even WALK. My hip was swollen. I was scared.  I was a wreck. I was sure the marathon was not happening. I was sure I would never even get to go back to Refine or Core Fusion. I iced and Tiger Balmed like it was my job.

I woke up on Monday feeling a LOT less pain. It still hurt, but I felt much more hopeful about my future. I made the (hard) smart decision to cancel the Core Fusion Cardio class I had spent all week looking forward to. The dramatic difference from Sunday to Monday made me suspect this was not a re-injury; rather, just a little inflammation from trying something different. And now, Tuesday morning, I feel almost completely better. The difference between Sunday and Tuesday is incredibly drastic. I am still going to take it easy this week, but I am confident now that I will be OK.

I think that because I have this hip injury, it reacts to the unknown by becoming inflamed. I think that is all that happened here. I do not think I permanently destroyed it. I do think that after some rest, I will be fine. Lesson learned — and thankfully this happened before marathon training and not during. This experience also serves as a reminder that I am not 100% better (and I might not ever be) and I need to continue to be cautious and modify exercises in my classes. Even if I think I can try something, right now, as I begin to train for the ING NYC Marathon, is not the time to experiment.

It helps to think of everything as a lesson.

(3) And lastly, I want to share some of my newest writing with you.

My guest post on the Real Business at Xerox blog with my time managing tips*



*Any time management tips taken from me are at your own risk. By reading this, you agree that negative outcomes cannot be blamed on Dori Heather Manela, including but not limited to: inability to get out of bed; neglecting responsibilities until the last possible second; weeks-old dishes toppling over the sink; clothing flung on all surfaces; a bedroom in complete and total disarray; flies; wrinkled clothing; a torn-apart bedroom because you can’t find anything, even after creating dedicated spaces for things — you won’t actually put your things in those spaces; inanimate objects taking over your bed so all you have for yourself is a tiny corner at the top; and, an overabundance of old books that have not yet made their way to the donation box at the library 20 blocks away, despite owning an old-lady shopping cart (which currently functions as a place to throw bras).

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