December 26th

The first day back to work after an exciting weekend always feels like December 26th to me. This feeling is even more significant today, because as we all know, I think of the 4th of July like my own special, warm-weather Christmas.

So maybe I should start referring to that feeling as a "July 5th" feeling instead...

Anyway, back to the daily grind it is, whether I like it or not.

My mission this week is to successfully see a project I've been overseeing through (we've hit some hiccups, which is extremely frustrating for me, particularly as, no matter what I tell myself, I tend to take work-related issues personally), actually complete a variety of training runs this week: speed work, medium runs and a long run this weekend, keep up with my #fitabs commitment, and get ready for yet another exciting weekend - I have a few prezzies to pick up so I'm looking forward to a couple of fun after-work errands this week. Productivity is the name of the game for this girl, and I have several to-do lists in place: in my Outlook calendar, my Google calendar, and hand-written (so I can color code/decorate it, obviously) to keep me mindful of my goals and plans.

I have some other exciting plans this week, including a few special lady-dates, which I am greatly looking forward to.

And just like that...my December 26th  July 5th feeling has melted away!

Happy Independence Day!

who doesn't love a land that celebrates its flag with a fruity cake?

I've said it once, I've said it (literally) a million times: I. LOVE. AMERICA. I love it more than coffee, more than running, more than my bed, more than most of my friends...sorry, friends.

I am so thrilled that it is once again our nation's day of birth (I'm also a huge proponent of birthdays, so today packs a double-whammy for me) and we can celebrate the fact that we live in what is truly the home of the free and the land of the brave.

I know it's not a perfect land, but comparing America to the rest of the world, and to how governments have historically been run...well, we are extremely fortunate and have really a tremendous amount of freedom.

Today we are free to...

- write pointless blogs (case in point: what I am doing right now)
- wear whatever revealing double-denim ensemble we may choose
- run 26.2 miles - for fun.
- do something of merit, I guess.

Freedom is something not to be taken for granted, how are you using yours today?

It's the freakin' weekend!

The title of this post was inspired by R. Kelly's inspired tune, "Ignition" one of my favorite cheesy party songs from high school, which always reminds me of driving with my girlfriends in my friend Chelsea's Mustang to a spring break kick-off party sophomore year.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS.

While high school may be over, I am delighted that one of my closest friends from my schoolgirl days will be in NYC for a few weeks before embarking on a world tour performing opera, because she is casually the most talented person I have ever met.

It is such a joy to have her here. I love, love, love my friends in New York, but there is just something about spending time with someone who has known you for over a decade, through fun times and hard times, through changing and staying the same.

In addition to a weekend-long lady date, I am maximizing the cooler temperatures to get in some runs in preparation for my next race: the Queens half-marathon on July 30. I have been predictably delinquent in my training and was somewhat shocked that I actually completed the 11 mile run I had planned for yesterday. Listening to my new favorite throwback tune once or twice fourteen times consecutively certainly helped the time go by and I felt ahhhmazing the whole time, hooray!

THROWBACK! you're welcome.

Staying true to my #fitabs challenge, I also tossed in a few ab exercises. And by a few, I of course mean 100 because that is how many I am supposed to do daily. Luckily, 100 ab exercises is actually less intimidating than it sounds so it was no problemo!

WHO ELSE IS EXCITED THAT TOMORROW IS INDEPENDENCE DAY?!?!? It is my Christmas. I cannot wait.

AB Challenge, you say?

As I mentioned previously, reading about fitness makes me feel fit, even if I am sitting on my tukus (yiddish word I learned recently from my cubicle neighbor who mutters "oy gevalt" every half hour or so) and will be for the next 8 hours. Similarly, reading about nutrition facts makes me feel like I'm on an a diet. Mind over matter, people.

So if I have some downtime at work, am on my lunch break, or am enjoying coffee before hitting up the gym for an early morning sweat session, you better believe that I am surfing the world wide web for ways to learn about fitness, super foods, healthy living tips, and becoming a healthier person by osmosis (that works, right?).

Through creeping around various fitness-oriented websites, I found the wonderful Katy Widrick, who is not only a dedicated triathlete but also a legitimate social media maven. Seriously, she may or may not have invented the internet. Obviously, this is someone to follow on twitter (after first following peanut butter...) and if one does so, one will find all sorts of great fitness and social media advice, and become a fit little guru merely by sitting at their computer, doing absolutely nothing! Amazing!

Yesterday Ms. Widrick tweeted about a 30-day ab challenge. In addition to all of the life-long health benefits exercise can afford you, you can also look good in a bikini, which certainly wouldn't ruin my life. So I thought to myself, well why not, Diana? Let's see what this is all about!

Basically, by informally signing onto this challenge, you get advice and encouragement to do approximately 100 ab exercises daily for 25 out of 30 days. That's like, a lot of ab work, but as I said, looking good in a bikini won't make me want to jump off a ledge. So starting today, I hereby declare that I will be partaking in this challenge, with the hope that I will have the sort of abs that give me the confidence to do this:



Or maybe not, on second thought.

Join me, yes or yes?

Fun Run Sun

As a human, I love love love summer. Two of my favorite words in the English language?

Heat. Wave.

who could be unhappy in such conditions?

While others complain about sweating through their clothing, smelling like a sasquatch, looking like a very shiny tomato, I am happy as a little clam. Sweaty, happy, little clam.

*side note: where did that phrase come from? are clams happy? how could anyone possibly know this?*

As a runner, however, the heat is not always my friend. I'm not averse to running outside in the heat, as some are, but I am aware that it can slow me down in a race capacity. Several weeks ago now, I partook in the Women's Mini 10K in Central Park as one of my friends (and fellow Luna Chick!) happened to have an extra bib number the day before the race.

I was so excited and was looking forward to improving on my time, as I had really enjoyed my first 10K and felt sure that I could go faster.

A few miles into the race, a combination of recent over-training (another issue altogether) and that darn heat and humidity started really messing with my mind and really, really messing with my speed. I slowed wayyyy down. Ordinarily I like to run negative splits and enjoy passing people as it keeps my competitive edge engaged. During the last two miles of this race, I actually allowed people to pass me. Many, many people. UGH.

As it turns out, although I felt like I ran terribly, my time was less than a minute slower than my first 10K. I was still disappointed, and I still learned my lesson.

1. Be sure that your legs are rested and ready to go. I am not Kara Goucher, I do not need to, nor should I, run 6 days a week.

2. Stop being so crazy competitive with yourself - it's great to push yourself, but you are still a worthwhile person and athlete if you don't PR in every. single. race. 

3. Heat (or any difference in climate!) WILL affect you, and you need to be prepared! Since this event, I have encountered several articles on running in the heat (you know when you never hear of something, and it is then brought to your attention, and suddenly it is EVERYWHERE? like that.), so don't take it from me, take it from the experts:

Runner's World - one of my favorite sources for running tips and *free* training schedules

Fit Sugar - definitely a good one to follow on twitter for fun fitness updates! (reading about fitness makes me feel like I'm working out...weird? fine.)

But I think that the main thing I learned, in addition to the obvious of drinking lots of agua (welcome to the bilingual portion of this blog), is not to hold myself to the same standards of performance in different climates, and to give myself the opportunity to adjust to a new season before I start beating myself up about my times.

I mean, let's get real, I am not setting out to win the race (...or am I?!? ;) and as long as I give my all through every mile, and escape injury-free, what have I really got to be complaining about? Nada. (see, totally bilingual over here.)

I discovered Luna Bars not longer after their inception (1999, in case you were wondering) as a junior high student in the early 2000's. Eating them made me feel like an athlete, although in real life I was that girl who was consistently picked last for kickball teams and still get a mild panic attack anytime someone suggests a pick-up game of football in the park. [side note: at a recent staff retreat day, I somehow blacked out and signed up to play softball and one of my teammates noted that I 'looked athletic,' causing me to laugh so hard that I struck out....three times]

Fast forward approximately a decade (eek!) later and I am continuing to fuel my "athletic" side with Luna bars - except this time, sort of for real.

One of my girlfriends from my American Cancer Society DetermiNation running team contacted me about joining an all-girls running club called Team Luna Chix. The premise is that, sponsored by Luna's Corporate Responsibility department, we run, we giggle, we gossip and we raise money for breast cancer research and awareness.

who could say no to these faces??

Really didn't need to twist my arm on that one.

they somehow bribed me to get myself to the starting line

The other bonus is that we get literally thousands of free mini-Luna Bars to munch on and share with other runners as a promotional tool for our running club. First of all, the mini bars are unbearably cute. Second of all, I live for free samples. Literally cannot get enough. I think I have a special radar in my brain that seeks out free samples high and low, and then devours them.

the REAL reason I joined....also, yes, please do check our website!

Anyway. The one con is that we do not get to pre-select the flavors of our free food. Hey, beggars can't be choosers. But turn that frown upside down, because some of the flavors (I'm talking to you, Lemon Zest) that previously made me feel like this:

now make me feel like this!!!

YAYYY broadening taste buds!

We run every Wednesday evening, so if you're in the NYC area and you're a chick and you like to run and also eat miniature snacks.....e-mail me! We are runners of all levels and typically split into two groups so that one group runs a long loop and one group runs a short loop. And we are so. much. fun.

If you are not in the NYC area, dry your tears as Luna's corporate responsibility arm has a long reach and there are Luna-sponsored running clubs nationwide. I'm told that the Orlando team is the model after which all other Luna teams aspire, but that won't last long now that we have a team here - nothing happens casually in New York City.

This is why you're fat.

As I was tooling around on the internet during my lunch break yesterday, I stumbled upon this little tweet, which sparked my curiosity and led me to follow the link:

Yes, I follow peanut butter on twitter, okay? I also have at least two jars of peanut butter at home waiting for me at all times (I like to have a jar of Trader Joe's classic creamy as well as a fun flava like THIS!). I also once ran out to buy a jar of peanut butter in the middle of eating an apple with peanut butter as my jar was running dangerously low - nothing says "pb addict" like a mid-snack grocery run. Also, in light of the title of this post, I feel that I should clarify that my point here is not that I'm fat because I eat a lot of peanut butter (although maybe it should be...).

My point is this: this NPR blog, documenting outrageously and grotesquely unhealthy sandwiches enjoyed (or not...) weekly in their office, is hilarious. Read it. Don't eat what they eat. That's all.