Every Race Needs A Pre-Party

Good morning and HAPPY FRIDAY!

Race weekend is finally here and I couldn’t be more excited! I’m wedged between Ali and Theodora on our Bolt Bus heading down to Washington, DC.

Last night, after a very long week at work, I was able to convince Mike and Bo to meet me for a beer, or two. Winking smile What can I say? Last I heard, beer has carbohydrates and those are definitely crucial for a great race. Or, I could also rationalize last night’s late night with the fact that it took my mind off the race. Regardless, I enjoyed every minute of our race weekend pre-party.

By 9pm, the bars were packed with basketball fans which made staying at Sutton Place virtually impossible. Bo, Mike and I were screaming just to hear ourselves. That was not what I had in mind. Luckily, Mike suggested The Mean Fiddler, a bar near Times Square which features a thorough food and drink menu, which allowed me to find some much needed food quickly.

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I enjoyed half this turkey burger with a cold Amstel Light while my male friends enjoyed the fries. It had been ages since I had a turkey burger. I forgot how delicious they can be when seasoned correctly!

Look who else joined the late night party!

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Theodora saw that I checked in at the Mean Fiddler on Four Square and immediately joined us for a beer and a few laughs.

While I may have only seen my comfortable bed and sheets for six hours last night, I enjoyed every minute of our “late” happy hour last night. I rarely go out during the week but this may have to happen a bit more often.

This morning, I woke up bright and early to finish packing, double check my list for the twentieth time, and get ready for the bus ride.

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One really full carry-on suitcase later, I think I remembered everything! Here are a few random things you’d see in my bag if you took a peek:

  • banana
  • two slices of Nature’s Pride Harvest Wheat bread (Thanks Foodbuzz)
  • a jar of peanut butter
  • The stick
  • three Ziplock bags (I’ll use these to protect my iPhone and Gu’s in my CamelBak)
  • CamelBak
  • Stuart Weitzman heels

Which of these things doesn’t belong.

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By 8:15 we were all in line ready to board the bus.As you can tell from this picture, including the guy with the foam roller, our bus is filled with runners! But, it wasn’t 100% smooth sailing for everyone in line.  We learned a few very important Bolt Bus lessons this morning:

  • You must be 15 minutes early or they’ll give your seat away
  • They aren’t very nice when they give your seat away so crying doesn’t help
  • They give you cheap bus fares so do not expect great customer service
  • They do not have a guest list with names, only confirmation codes. Therefore, PRINT your confirmation page ahead of time. (Ooops)
  • Choose your seat mate well because sometimes a 4 hour trip can turn into a 6 hour trip if the Tunnel is shut down due to an accident

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Now it’s time to perfect my race play list, continue carb loading with a breakfast of champions (thanks Theodora), and take a cat nap.

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Have a wonderful Friday and weekend! My next post will be from DC. Smile

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Have I Always Been A Runner?

This Saturday, as I cross the National Half Marathon starting line,  I will embark on my 10th half marathon in a 3.5 year period. This is a milestone I hope to celebrate with a PR of 2:15! 

Therefore, I thought it most appropriate to answer one of my readers’ most frequently asked questions, “Have I always been a runner?”

Hell no! In fact, my passion and love of running only began 5.5 years ago. My relationship with running has evolved quite a bit from when it began.

The Beginning

On July 2nd, 2005 I walked into a Philadelphia Weight Watchers center desperate for a change. My size 14 shorts no longer fit, I had outgrown my favorite clothing store J.Crew, and I was perpetually the girl with the “great personality.” I was depressed, tired,  and finished with settling for being a “big girl.” Per my mom’s suggestion, I gave Weight Watchers a try. She insisted that it would be a safe, friendly area without the normal intimidation associated with idea of weight loss. I loved it! Within two weeks, I had lost my first 5 pounds and was learning about portion control and incorporating more fiber and protein into my diet. I was reading everything I could get my hands on ranging from books to health magazines.  But, then I hit a plateau and found that even two straight weeks of eating well weren’t helping the weight loss. My “coach” suggested I try running. I laughed at her and explained that I was the girl who avoided the mile run during elementary and middle school. I even avoided team sports in high school for fear that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the other girls even though I loved volleyball and soccer in middle school. She challenged me to start walking and take it from there. That night, in an old Villanova dorm fitness center, I stepped on the treadmill for the first time. I started out slowly, setting the speed to 3.5 just trying to find my balance. After 20 minutes, sweat dripping down my face and body, I increased the speed. I remember bartering with myself. “If I can do 1 minute at 5.0, then I can stop.”

Success!  That night, I jogged for 1 minute and felt invincible. I had taken my first true steps towards finding an exercise that I would come to enjoy and love.

In the days that followed, I added one minute every evening. I kept track of my mileage and time in my Weight Watcher points diary each day until I realized that I was half way towards a 5k. Every summer, during college, my sorority sisters celebrated the end of the season with a lake weekend in Macon. Each year, I stood and cheered by the sidelines of the Macon Labor Day Road Race while they ran past. This year would be different. I kept my new found activity a surprise from everyone. By the last day of my summer internship and my final Philadelphia weigh in, I had lost 11 pounds and was able to jog, albeit at a 11:45 pace, a 5k on the treadmill. My friends and family couldn’t compliment me enough when I returned to Georgia. This positive energy, along with the fact that I was finally under 190 pounds, kept me yearning for more. By Labor Day weekend, I was able to finish the Macon Labor Day Road Race in 33:12!

Throughout the rest of my senior year, I lost 30 more pounds through careful eating and exercise. I ran three days a week throughout campus, normally logging 3-4 miles. I spent this time thinking, releasing stress, and thinking. Sometimes, I was able to convince another sorority sister, who was willing to jog at my pace, to join me for an evening run. It quickly became my favorite time of the week.

Middle

When I moved to Philadelphia on May 14th, 2006 I was excited for the future, but very aware that I was leaving a great deal behind. I left my friends, boyfriend (now husband Bo), family, and past in Georgia in order to start the next chapter in my life. I was pursuing my dream job, but I was miserable. I spent my time immersed in working out and cooking when I wasn’t working. Each morning, I woke up at 6am and logged 4 miles on the treadmill. Each night, I would return to the gym and bike or spend time on the elliptical. I wanted to be anywhere except in the loneliness of my apartment. During this same period of time, my best friend Amy, who had also started with P&G, convinced me that I could run further than 4 miles. She thought that training for races, virtually, would help me. It gave me something new to focus on and something fun to think about. We planned her visits around our Philadelphia races, often making a weekend out of the hour or two hour race. We were second class citizens at our first race, The 2006 Philadelphia Marathon’s 8k. Trust me, on a marathon weekend, the event planners do not think twice about those folks running their smallest race. But, for me, on that day I ran my first race with Amy and my furthest distance. I was immediately hooked on the endorphins I felt after a race and the energy I gained running a new distance. This confidence spread into my everyday work as well as my social life. Bo and my friends saw a new, happier and more confident Ashley while my co-workers quickly termed me “The Running Gal.”  Over the next few years, we conquered multiple mileage marks together including 5k, 8k, 5 miler, 10k, 10 miler, and eventually half marathons together. We planned for each race in the same way. We used Runner’s World to build a training schedule and would each train religiously, never missing a day and recapping our runs and training on email and phone. By the time I left Philadelphia, we had logged 10 races together spanning from Philadelphia to Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Current

Since arriving in New York City, my relationship with running has evolved into a ritual. It is something that completes my day, providing me time to think, challenge myself, and spend time alone with treadmill or pavement. It has also taken me to places I never imagined. The New York Road Runners has allowed me to run a marathon, a feat I never thought possible. Moreover, I have been able to challenge myself by running multiple races across the city and multiple boroughs. 

The 21 races I’ve run since moving to New York City have been run in a different mindset though. For the past year and half, I’ve been trying to get better. I’ve been reaching for lower splits and longer distances, while dealing with more daily stress than ever before. I grew aggravated with my body’; upset that my long legs couldn’t outpace the shorter female runners. It wasn’t until after I missed my New York Marathon goal by 4 minutes did I start to truly evaluate my running routine. I spent an hour reviewing posts, searching through Athlinks for all my old race times, and studying my routine.

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I realized that I had not varied my training during my four years of running. Sure, I had added miles to one run a week in order to reach my marathon distance. Why did I think I would see a change in my body, results, or endurance if I didn’t alter my training. In essence, I had been bringing all the stagnant results upon myself. I spent my Christmas break researching speed training, listening to podcasts about endurance training and fueling, and testing my body. I tried varying my normal runs to see how my legs, lungs, and body felt afterwards. I found that this change reignited my passion for running. Finally, after years of the same movements, I felt something different. I felt the feeling of true breathlessness for the first time, I felt my hip flexors as I completed strides, and I found solace in running alone again. No longer did I need the companionship to finish a long run. I could lace up my shoes, throw on my Garmin, and head towards the park knowing that my legs would take me somewhere I’d never been before because every run, should be different than the last.

 

If you’re a reader who needs help getting started, please always feel free to reach out to me. As you can tell from this post, I was there once too. It can be intimidating to start, especially at a gym, but once you start you’ll never stop!

Also, if you’re looking for more inspiration on how to start running, Anne coincidentally wrote on a similar topic today over at Fannetastic Food!

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Equinox Equifit Session

Happy Wednesday!

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t know that Spring is supposed to be here and that I should be flaunting lovely Spring dresses and adorable flats.

Instead, I donned my long North Face and Hunter boots today as I skipped through the puddles, snow, and sleet.

IMG_0982 IMG_0984 I spent thirty blissful minutes stretching and rolling my tight muscles. The lovely Anne featuring a wonderful guest post yesterday which highlighted the best stretches for athletes.

IMG_0977 I brightened up my morning meal with my fun, bright placemat!

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Lunch was my standard Greek salad from Pax filled to the brim with romaine, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, celery, and feta cheese. This combination is absolutely delicious and keeps me filled for hours!

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My North Face Endurance Challenge water bottle inspired me for the upcoming race as I sipped plenty of water throughout the day! 

After work, I ventured back into the horrible weather for my first Equifit session with Lauren, my new trainer at Equinox on 19th street.

The Equifit session is Equinox’s version of a diagnostic fitness test. It is basically an interview and fitness assessment which allows the trainer to personalize a workout plan to meet your body’s needs. Lauren spent an hour getting to know me, my fitness and health history and future goals, my current weight and height, BMI, blood pressure, and even the ins and outs of my muscular and skeletal system through different balance exercises.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll share with you my results:

  • Resting heart rate: low
  • Blood pressure: low
  • Height: 5’9 and a half
  • Weight: 171.5 (After a day of food and liquids, I was 170 this morning when I woke up.)
  • Body Composition: 22

After our hour long session, we established the following goals:

  • Do one unassisted pull-up
  • Reduce Body composition to 19
  • Run a 2:10 half marathon

Due to the fact that weight alone isn’t the best indication of fitness, we are focusing more on body composition and strength.

Our plan is to workout together every Wednesday evening, spending an hour on a workout and 20 minutes on stretching. I look forward to sharing the different exercises and lessons I learn from Lauren with you all!

After the session, I stopped in Paragon to pick up the last of my National Half Marathon supplies: Cliff Shot Blocks and socks.

The Nike+ Run Club was there giving out awesome technical t-shirts to shoppers who signed up for their run club emails! If you’re interested, the Union Square Paragon features a Wednesday evening run club at 6:30pm. The run consists of a 2 mile warm-up, 2 miles speed session at the East River Track, and a 2 mile cool-down.

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The rest of this evening is going to be spent packing, organizing, and getting ready for Friday’s trip down to Washington, DC with Theodora and Ali!

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Fun Fine Print:

*Equinox and I are partnering to bring my readers more health and fitness information from their trainers, instructors, and more. This will include free classes in the future for readers, giveaways, and more. I am however paying for my training sessions.

*Please realize that weight is personal and I am putting it on the blog in hopes of building a stronger community and helping readers understand my starting point. Please do not think that my plan or my weight is right for everyone.

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