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I Am Really Excited About Everything in the Month of July

I am so happy.

As I look at my calendar and see everything I have going on this month, I am so excited about all of it. July is already my favorite month of the year; it is what I consider “real” summer. June is not yet summer. August is a sign that summer is almost over (I get nauseous as August approaches for just that reason. Yes, I know I am nuts.) But July . . . July is REAL SUMMER.

Here’s why I am even more excited than usual about July this year:

{} The Fourth of July – this happened last night and I went to a rooftop in Brooklyn and spent hours outside. I love spending time outside in as little clothing as possible, with alcohol. I don’t think I could ever be happier. Enter gratuitous photos of me standing around being happy, with alcohol.

 


[Photo: Anonymous]

And the gorgeous sunset:

P.S. I never feel a need to carry my camera around anymore. The iPhone does just fine. One less thing to have to shove into my pregnant-looking purse.

{} Marathon training – This officially starts on July 11 (although I started half marathon training for Queens on 7/30). I am SO excited! I have never stuck to a real training plan before. The marathon’s getting real, guys. Stacy from Stacy’s Bootcamp helped me create an awesome training plan that only has me running three times a week (I fear any more will cause injury) and lets me keep Refine Method and Core Fusion in my weekly plans.

It also means running! I miss running. I miss exercising outside. Last weekend I ran along the water and it was beautiful.

Then I stopped at a dog park with a tiny doggie fountain.

Then I tackled the biggest hill ever.

 

{} FITist – I am trying out the FITist Rookie plan this month! I get two Core/Pilates classes, two Yoga Classes and two Cycling Classes. I will also get to try two Performance classes if I can fit them in. I am very excited to try some new workouts and studios. I already started with a spinning class at FlyWheel on July 4! It is a little challenging balancing their classes with marathon training and my own classes, but I am doing my best. I will share my entire experience with FITist after this month.

{} My apartment – I officially have the apartment to myself. My (ex) roommate and I will be doing heavy man-like things like trying to slide Midge, our fridge, out into the hallway to make room to see if we can get my desk and wardrobe from my room into hers. Our kitchen is a narrow L shape, and it connects our rooms to each other, so the trick is getting these large items around the corner without anything getting stuck or crumbling to pieces (which has happened before. Damn you IKEA. But also, I love you.)

I am so excited to organize all my stuff and for once in my life have space to PUT things. Our apartment is 320 square feet and does not have any closets. With my roommate’s stuff out, I will have more storage space and places to put things. I wish I had photos to share. Maybe I will take some while we are moving and organizing. That would make for a fun Tuesday blag sometime.

I’d also like to move my bookcase to her room and put a nighstand in its place next to my bed. Can you imagine? A place to put stuff I need at night and in the morning in easy reach! I am thinking my alarm clock, a book, my iPad, things that need to be washed like dishes and my cell phone.

Now those things won’t have to live in my bed with me.

I also want to get a vanity table where my wardrobe currently is so I can move my makeup and hair products from their current home on the floor to on top of a table. With a mirror! This way I can see my face as I apply my makeup.

IKEA Vanity Table

[Photo: IKEA]

Then if I have a desk in her room, I can have a chair. THAT means I can have a place to sit and write! Right now I have to write from bed and as you can imagine I am extremely unproductive.

I also hope this gives me some space for push-ups.

{} Top-Secret Thing – I can’t wait to reveal to you mid-July the reason I am at Refine doing these things:

Or at the gym at Chelsea Piers doing this thing:

{} Boomer’s Cystic Fibrosis Run to Breathe (10K) – On July 9 I will once again tackle my favorite race distance, the 10K. I had an incredible PR on this distance at the Women’s Mini 10K in 2010. I am not going to try and PR because I am taking care of my hip, but I am excited to be in a race nonetheless, even though it means missing my first Girls on the Run Solemates group training run that happens to be the day after the race. I will be running with my friend Z, who I also plan to run 26.2 miles with in a few months. Last weekend we ran the Central Park Loop together and just talked the entire time. It made 6 miles feel like nothing. I met Z through this blog, so it is all pretty amazing.

{} Queens Half Marathon – This half is July 30 and I won’t say I can’t wait, because then that means July is almost over and the dread of August comes. But I am happy to be running a half! It’s been so long since I ran 13.1 miles surrounded by lots of people. I am nervous because I am coming back from injury and all, but I have been feeling great and I am more excited than scared anyway. I am not sure what I am more excited for: the race, or the post-half marathon French toast tradition.

{} Running Music –  I am loving my new running music, especially the mashups of DJ Cobra. They are really awesome and also free and might even give Girl Talk a run for his money. I don’t know. That is a bold claim that I am not prepared to make. But DJ Cobra is fantastic. There are many songs I spot in these mixes that I never would have considered for a mashup! Thank you Gena for knowing me so well.

{} July 29 – My baby brother’s birthday. Loves.

    

{} Discovering the best story ever - Dog accidentally runs half marathon for cancer – This made my summer. I love this story so much! Dozer escaped from his family (the sad part) and ran into a University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center charity half marathon (the happy part). Excited by all the people running, he kept running right alongside them. Watch the video. Every time Dozer crosses the finish I get all teary. And he is so regal as he accepts his medal. What a great dog! He ran back home to his family the next day, so all ended well. I donated to his fundraising efforts. He earned it.

Speaking of fundraising efforts, I raised over $1,000 for Girls on the Run! Thank you so much to everyone who donated.

Now it is time to announce the winner of the RoadID raffle! I can’t say enough about how crucial it is to run with this form of ID. Please consider getting one if you spend time outdoors running, cycling or even walking.

The winner of the $35 RoadID gift certificate is

Mazel tov to Mallory & Matthew. I promise no nepotism was involved. They stacked the odds.

And lastly, here are my two latest NBC New York GO Healthy NY reviews:

Dori’s Quest: Core Fusion Boot Camp


Dori’s Quest: Stacy’s Bootcamp – Ultra-Challenging but Effective

 

Happy July, kids!

NYC Marathon Week 2010 + Best Race Recap

I am loving this Marathon mania. I spent four and a half hours today standing the cold cheering on all the NYC Marathon runners! I had such a fun time even though I didn’t have any friends with me. I screamed the names of as many people as I possibly could. One guy’s shirt said “Bacon!” so of course I yelled BACON! to him, much to the amusement of the people surrounding me. This lady didn’t realize people had their names on their shirts and said to me “You know half the city!”

The excitement actually lasted all week. Yesterday I volunteered at the marathon expo to fulfill my volunteer requirement to gain guaranteed entry to next year’s marathon. My job was shouting “Have your registration and IDs ready!” for four hours. It was a shock I even had a voice to cheer today. Also, did you know screaming for hours can give you a headache?! I’m used to only screaming for 5 – 8 seconds.

Here I am looking all official at the expo where I ran into Missy. I had no idea she’d be there since she has nothing to do with the marathon!

Looking official at an event like this gives you a ton of power. I could have told these people anything and they would have believed me. I probably should have used that to my advantage with a few of the boys I saw there.

And last Sunday, a week before the marathon, I ran the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff 5 mile race. After my first post-injury run — which was way too fast – I went into this race determined to keep it slow.

I decided to rely heavily on my Garmin and run the race at a 10:30-11:00 pace. I met up with Fiona before the race and that made the time fly. I’ve chatted so much with Fiona on Twitter over the last eight months or so about Core Fusion and running and life, I can’t believe first met at this race. We talked and took part in the organized group stretching session. I really wish I thought to take pictures! Sometimes I am a terrible blogger. It was fun being part of a crowd stretching to someone’s instruction from a stage.

We started in the corral together but I told Fiona to go off ahead of me since I would be trying to run slower than she planned. I put my headphones on and played my slow songs playlist. I LOVED it. If you ever want an excellent playlist for a relaxing run, I highly suggest this one. Each song made me feel overjoyed and they were all slow so I never felt pressured to pick up the speed.

SLOW SONGS PLAYLIST

A few quick notes on every single song. OK maybe not so quick after all since there were 15. Paper Aeroplane by Angus & Julia Stone is just awesome, I learned it from Erin Jacques’ Music Yoga Flow at exhale. Erin has the best taste in music. You and Me is one of my favorite new Dave Matthews Band songs (seeing him in concert for the 13th time on Friday — thanks GRWAM!) and I always think about putting it on a race playlist, but then change my mind because it is pretty slow. Well this was the perfect time and the perfect song. It makes me so happy. Sideways. So, so good. Download that right now. Citizen Cope is awesome and the song is slow and contemplative and sexy.

Anna Begins, I mean, of course I would choose this — do you know me at all?! I might have started singing out loud during this one. I started wondering during this song how Adam Duritz can write such emotive lyrics and at the same time write ridiculous things on Twitter. And just the other night the other night he revealed what I (incorrectly?) thought his beautiful lyric from A Long December actually means. Tweeted Adam, “You look across a crowded room to see the way that light attaches to a girl” means “When she stands by the window, I can see thru her dress.” Lovely.

It reminds me of that time he went on Howard Stern in a bunny costume, sang the most incredible version of Round Here, and was completely incapable of acting normal or seriously answering any of Howard’s questions.  Howard even said to Adam, “You’re making a lot of jokes today, I really wish I could have a serious discussion about your pain.” My thoughts exactly.

In Adam’s defense, he came out on the stage before his show in 2009 and made a pretty awesome political speech. Anyway. Heart Skipped a Beat. I will never stop loving this song that I learned from Rachel. Every time I hear it, I am shocked by how unique and amazing it is. I got to see The XX live for free at Central Park this summer and they were incredible.  Just a Boy is another one I learned from Rach and it is uplifting and chill and beautiful. Stolen Away on 55th and 3rd is a sweet Dave Matthews Band song that I always liked, but never loved until my favorite Core Fusion Yoga teacher started playing during class. Now it is one of my favorite songs of all time, and whenever I am on 55th and 3rd I smile. Hard to Concentrate — learned it from my brother’s wedding CD, included it in my Divas Half Marathon race playlist, love it so much. Turns out I like RHCP more than I thought. Sun Comes Up, John Legend, awesome. Yes, I have it from the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack. Don’t judge.

My new favorite band is Mumford & Sons and White Blank Page is so sweet and powerful at the same time. B*****s Ain’t S**t lifted my mood even higher than it already was because it never fails to give me a good laugh. I love how serious Ben Folds sounds, like he truly does not give a f*ck where the bitch was at as long as his mothaf*ckin pockets was fat. I believe it.

County Road by Jack Johnson and Paula Fuga is so pretty! They sang it as his show this summer and I came home and downloaded it immediately. Love that I got to use it in a race. I’m really into songs lately that include dialogue — other examples include Home by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and I Wish That I Could See You Soon by Herman Dune. Candlebox’s Far Behind was a favorite of mine the first year of college. My roommate only knew, like, six songs and she had them all in a continual loop. This was one of them.

This was also the perfect song to sprint to at the finish line because it gets intense! Yep, I finished the race to my second to last song, but my perfect timing was not compromised. I had an iPod issue when I took my jacket off at Mile 2 and had to start Just a Boy over midway through, so I *would* have heard every song. So even though I didn’t run to Winter Winds, another Mumford & Songs song, just know it is awesome.

Back to the race!

The entire run was so chill and so much fun. It was a perfect fall day and ideal running conditions. Even though I wasn’t running super fast, the miles flew by. It was all so easy! No knee pain, no ankle pain and no hip pain (my right hip flexor was painfully tight before the race but loosened right up). For the first time in my life I drank coffee before the race and I did fine with that too. I was really into my music and my thoughts and the beautiful scenery of the park. I was totally in the zone; I didn’t even notice the photog at the bottom of Cat Hill (which we ran DOWN). That is how you know I was in my own world since I usually seek the race paps out. I had a hilarious writing idea for the blog but of course I forgot it as soon as I stopped running.

As I got to the last mile I felt strong and I knew I could start to push my pace a little. And since I held back the entire race, I was strong enough to really sprint at the end! I never get to do that the way I’d like because I’m usually so beat by that time. Here I am sprinting through the finish — feeling great!

I needed this race — running on a gorgeous day without worrying about time reminded me why I love to run.

Official time: 53:00
Official pace: 10:36

And Garmin says:

Thanks to this race I am confident that I can get back on a running schedule and start getting in some long runs again. After all, I have a marathon to run in 363 days.

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