This is what keeps me going!

Team In Training is an amazing and awesome cause, changing and saving lives every day. The people, however, are what takes this organization to the next level. They are amazing, self-less, and incredibly supportive teammates that I am thrilled to have met!

Life is good.... Brooklyn Half Marathon, here I come!!! Four half marathons in under four months!

First BRick!

It's 6:45am, and today will be our first team BRick workout! Super stoked and not sure I got enough sleep after an amazing John Legend concert but I'm going to rock this!!  I can feel my legs becoming solid hill-climbing machines, and it is awesome.  I'm also finally beginning to build upon my calf muscles so that there is that slight but noticeable curve to my calf. Sweet.  Once I get that visible calf muscle, I'll be able to officially call myself a runner.

With that said, I'm running my fourth half marathon in 2 weeks! This will be my fourth this year, and fourth ever. Go me! The next race after that is a 1.6mile swim in Hudson, 1 week later with NYCSwims, followed by the 5K Wall Street Run 4 days later.  I'm on a roll!

Did I mention I signed up for another Olympic triathlon?

1 year straight TNT!

I've been training with Team In Training for almost 1 year straight. I started the season in March last year, and trained through July. I took a little break of Aug/Sept, but I still ran a race in that time.

One year later, this is what my watch reads (as an overall count)! I have totally changed my life, and burned over 30,000 calories in workouts and races, all thanks to Team In Training. It's amazing what a turnaround and positive impact it has had in my life, and I'm grateful to everyone who has supported me on this path.

3 Half Marathons....

Before 30! That's right, in just 3 months, I have gone from finishing my first half marathon, to finishing my third! I'm proud to say that I am stronger and have a higher endurance than ever before and I want to stay on this roll. (It's tough though, I get tired often and I don't like feeling like I'm literally stuffing my face all the time)

Tomorrow, I turn 30. This means I will now be in the most competitive women's age group for any race that I do. I know I'll never be the winner of my AG, but it's a nice challenge to think that everyone is stepping up their game in this group. So, 30, here goes!

My next races are a 4miler Japan Day run and the Brooklyn Half Marathon. I'm also now signed up for the Nations Triathlon in DC in September!

2 Weeks till my first Rock 'N' Roll SF Half Marathon!

Am I a race nerd yet? I might be on my way!!!
I think this is the coolest race elevation chart I've seen!
2 weeks and 2 days till the Rock 'n' Roll San Francisco Half Marathon!!!

Milestones!

This week, I overcame a major milestone. I worked out 5 days straight, and felt really good. Here's the breakdown:

Saturday: Brooklyn Team Triathlon Practice
Sunday: Coogan's 5K
Monday: Brooklyn Tri Swim Practice (Intermediate session)
Tuesday: Manhattan Tri Run Practice (Intermediate)
Wednesday: Pure Power Boot Camp (insanity, 7:30am)
Thursday & Friday: Rest & Stretch
Saturday.... Repeat!

It's definitely been an exhausting week, so I really need to figure out how I am going to keep my energy out, since Friday was supposed to be a swim day, but I could barely keep my eyes open on the subway. What to do.... Any advice? I also don't really want to put on weight because I really am enjoying the way I am looking and feeling!

Coogan's Salsa, Blues 5K -- completed!

Yesterday was the first official triathlon team practice! We did about 20minutes of running, and I was desperately seeking more, so today's race worked out well.

Great day for a 5K run, though it was a little cold. All along the course in Washington Heights (45min subway ride up to the top of Manhattan), were various types of musicians scattered to encourage us and entertain us. While I wasn't running a 15minute 5K pace, I did manage to keep my pace under a 10min/mile which is great because it was pretty darn crowded with lots of kids and walkers. Here's a pic for 4 of us (all finishers from Bermuda, and TNTers) who did this mornings race, and I knew about z4 other people running today.

I am 4/10ths of the way to qualifying for the New York City Marathon in 2014!!! (I have run 3 NYRR races, and volunteered for one, as part of the program 9+1).

So, what's next?

Of course, you are probably not surprised when I tell you I have tons of races planned for the season!

I'm running a 5K Irish-themed run on Sunday, the day after Team In Training practice officially kicks off for the new NYC triathlon season! After that, I don't have much planned beyond oh, just 3-4 days of Team In Training workouts, with my own personal 2-3 days of working out. I am ready to really get serious. Why? I am motivated by the honored teammates I have met over the seasons, and I am motivated by my own health. I feel great. It feels good to be alive, and it feels good to look good in this life that I am loving. Team In Training has given me a lot over the last 3 years, and this year I am really giving back by becoming a mentor. I have three wonderful alumni mentees who I raced with either in 2010 or 2012, and I am set on being more than a corporate mentor but also a supporting mentor to the BK and Manhattan teams.

So, triathlon training will kickoff, and then it'll be time for two half marathons on back to back weekends. Why, you ask? Because I've got legs and they be feelin' good! (Ask me about that in April 14th night, and I just might tell you something else.) The San Francisco Rock N Roll Half Marathon will be first true Half Marathon (no 10K or 1 miler in the 2 days prior like in Bermuda!) so I am planning to rock it. Maybe a 2:20 should be my plan? I have no idea, but I really need to scope out this elevation and route and figure out where I'm going to push myself and take it easy.

Until Saturday, stay healthy and happy, dear friends, athletes, and family. :) Hi, Mom.

Cherry Tree 10 miler - it feels good be alive!!!

Seriously. Today's race felt like it was never going to end, but I kept pushing myself to just keep going, and remember that I've run this exact race route twice before with the Battle of Brooklyn 2010 and 2012.

I wore compression socks for the first time, but opted to only go with one pair of running pants which may have resulted in me feeling distracted as I felt myself freezing between hip and knee.

(Side note: I recently purchased a pair of Zoot Ultra Compression socks from an Active.com GearUp sale. I strongly recommend becoming an Active.com Advantage member to get 15% off at the GearUp store. Highly recommend the socks and the membership!)

I think next time, I'll wear the comp socks plus a thicker pair of running tights since even though the pairs I have are lined with fleece or something on the inside, it just doesn't work for this weather.

And then there was nutrition. Did I mention that this might have been my worst race experience ever? In a last minute decision at bag check, I started searching for Chapstick to put into my running belt, and I have no idea how I missed it, but my trusty nutrition did not make it back into my belt pocket. By mile 5, I was really feeling it, and by mile 7 I was considering picking up someone's unfinished Gu pack (rest assured, I did not decide to test my immune system with that but it definitely crossed my mind when I passed a single, lonely Clif Block. :)

Final time: 1 hour, 45 minutes and 52 seconds, yielding a 10:35/mile pace. My ankle has been acting up, as well as my back and my knees so I am taking it easy the rest of the day. No matter what, no matter how I felt like I was running on fumes, today proved to me that I can really run my own race and my own pace and feel like a champion!!!

Beyond Bermuda!

Me & My Trusty Shoes!

Greetings from a very chilly, and somewhat snowy NYC!

I found a picture from after the Bermuda Half-Marathon day, and thought I'd share it! It's me, with my TNT pride, showing off the shoes that took me all the way through the Bermuda Half Triangle Challenge!!!

This week, I did my first run with NYRR -- it was a Superbowl-themed 4miler in Central Park, in 25*, and yesterday, I did my first run with the NYC Triathlon team for the July 14th race!  We've got plenty of time (it was only 30*, so not as bad as Sunday), and it was a nice and easy run.

Courtesy of my Garmin Connect (from my watch/shoe)

Collage tradition continued!