And the Ultimate Cliffhanger Award Goes to....

Me! To the 3 people who follow this blog - my bad, y'all. I got so caught up in the excitement of running my races that I never filled you in on the haps. Well - I ran the races! Owww. If you're saying to yourself - "Wait, races? Plural? I thought there was only one?" ....my bad again.

I ran two half marathons! What began as running my first-ever 5K, turned into my running with some of the coolest crews in NYC, which led to my running in small local races, which gave me the confidence to sign-up for my first ever half-marathon, which forced me to train like hell, which gave me the pelotas to sign-up for a second half marathon that took place 3 weeks after my first! And that's the story of how Half-marathon grew an s.

So, it's been about 4 months since I ran the first half and I'm going to do my best to recount how things went down. Where my memory fails me, I'll throw in a photo to distract you. :)

If you've ever been to a Nike event (or read my blog) you know that these people are serious about creating a great experience. So here goes.

When we arrived, the pier was all #werundc everything for the expo:

I went to the Nike DC store to run a quick few miles as a shakeout in preparation for the race. They had the wall plastered with all of the runners names. Nice touch, Nike.

Part of the marketing for the race included the fact that Ellie Goulding (if you don't know the name, like I didn't at first, here's one of her songs...which you definitely know) was also running.




Anyway, to get us excited, they hosted a fun concert the night before with Ellie rocking out and everyone forgetting for a moment that they had 13.1 to run the next day. Fun times.

Enjoyed the concert and all of my sweet arm candy I'd accumulated by that point. Also, humble brag on reaching goal with my fuel band.

Who am I kidding? All brag. No humble.

After a morning shake-out run, traipsing through the expo all afternoon and jamming out at the concert, I was crazy hungry but didn't want to eat anything too out of the ordinary before the big day. Chipotle to the rescue!!

First, peep the portion. (That's a lot of marinated meat)

 Then, peep the price!! My New Yorkers can especially appreciate this. It's a whole $2.00 cheaper!! I walked out feeling like I won. (One thing - they didn't serve margaritas so...NY wins there )

I took my meal back to my hostess' home (huge hugs and shouts to my friend Kristin Venise Bellamy Lloyd!!), set my alarm and was ready to make it happen.

Alarm went off and I woke up to eat the exact same breakfast I'd eaten pretty much every Saturday morning in preparation for long runs. 

Then, it was race day! Up and at 'em early. Thanks to Christine for taking care of all things day-of logistics! Bright eyed at 6AM

And then we were off! 30,000 women racing through the DC Expressway. Pretty cool.

Howard's band was a fun touch. They played all things Juicy J & 2 Chainz. :)

 There was a go-go band in the tunnel. A go-go band!! See what I mean?! Nike kept it regionally relevant with motivating beats. Loved this.

 This was nearing the end. Last mile. That's when you find out what you're made of.

Crossed the finish line and collected my Tiffany's neckcandy.

Then quickly proceeded to brunch to toast it up! 

3 weeks later, I did it all over again (10 minutes faster). Here's one photo. I'll spare you the photo journal.

Now, you're all caught up. I'm about 7 weeks away from half #3 and I'll keep you (3) posted on the haps.

Keep running,
#runrorun

"If Your Mind Doesn't Mind, Your Body Doesn't Matter."

I overheard someone sharing those words while running a 10 miler and it stuck with me. It embodies my last few months of accomplishing feats I wouldn't have imagined a year ago and will be the soundtrack of my triumphs to come.

That being said...it's been a minute!! I remember wanting to blog weekly and well....yeah.

Here are the high and low lights since my last blog entry:

Highlight: Running a Personal best on Superbowl Sunday!

Oh, hello there front page of New York Roadrunners...in my HOUSTON TEXANS jersey!! Highlight!!

Lowlight: It snowed during most of the race (though, that fact made running a personal best feel a little more bad A)

Highlight: The next day I flew to Cancun and started my first day of training for the Nike Women's Half !!! Oww!

Highlight: I celebrated another year of life!

                                       

Low light: That darn ankle injury came back to haunt me. Ugh. I rested for 2 weeks to avoid further injury. (There aren't many stock photos for "black person ankle injury," btw. I feel your pain, Serena!)

Highlight: When I was finally ready to get back out there, some of my uptown peeps hit the early AM pavement with me. Love!

Highlight: I got to workout at Barclays Center and shoot hoops on Kris Kardashian & co's court. Fun fun!

 Highlight: Yooooooo!!!!! I ran 10 miles!!! Lil ol' me?! yup. I did.

Lowlight: I upped my mileage, but my form was all wrong and my shoes needed more support. Shin splints!!! Ugh. Sidelined again. (Hello there ethnically ambiguous girl in non-descript athletic wear. Gotta love stock photos.)

                                           

Then, out of nowhere - Nike to the rescue! The good folks on the Fuel Band team gifted me with sweet new Flyknits (which I'll be using to run the Nike Women's Half) and introduced me to baohaus. go there and get the coffin bao. trust me. Highlight!!!

                                          

Highlight: I was back at running the streets of NYC. Flying over bridges and dodging cranky cyclists. Ahhhh...I missed it so much.

                                      

Lowlight: Running my slowest pace ever in the Scotland 10K. Clearly I didn't know it before I took this silly photo. :(

Highlight: Quickly getting over my big 10k let down and putting in serious work on the track with the IronRunners. Sweat equity.

Highlight: Cooking this BOMB meal. This has absolutely nothing to do with running, but good food is just a highlight of life. 

I'm 5 days away from my first-ever Half-marathon and I feel great. I'm extremely grateful for the people who have been part of this journey so far and proud of everyone's progress. To everyone running in DC this weekend - let's get it! We've put in the work; now it's time to put the work to work.

Stay tuned folks.

#RunRoRun

I'm Riding The Pine.

I rolled my ankle and I haven't been able to run since last Saturday. I wish I had a great story like "while running through the lower east side, I had to make a sharp turn to avoid being hit by a crazy cabbie," but truth is - I tripped over a boot. The craziest part is I'd done a timed 5K trial on Saturday morning, then gone to the gym for leg work and then run home - all prime opportunities for ankle rollage. But no, I tripped on my boot in my apt and spent the next 48 hours icing and elevating.

Moral of the story: Don't skip putting your boots up after a night out.

In my quick Google search after the "injury" (we'll call it), I found the acronym RICE - Rest, Ice, Compression (ACE wrap) and Elevate. So, that's what I did (minus the compression) and I've healed pretty quickly. I had to fight the temptation to get back out there too soon, but hopefully I'll be running again by Saturday!


For now, I'm still on the bench.

I feel you, Tim.

To all of the NY runners who have been getting it in in sub 20 degree weather - hat tip to y'all!

xoxoRo

Hello Brooklyn.

Hiya Doin?

BK Bridge.

"This must be how Allyson Felix Feels"

Saturday, I clocked my longest run so far - 6.5 miles! Well, technically I didn't "clock" 6.5 because I paused my app and forgot to restart it for half a mile, but the other people running with me confirmed we'd logged 6.55 miles. This was especially exciting because:

1. So much of running is mental. Any mental win is big!
2. I had never before consciously decided to run 5 or more miles. Any other time was an accident because I'd gotten lost or because I was tricked. (For the record, this was 6.55 miles because we all got lost. It was only supposed to be ~5.5.)
3. I ran the entire time without music which meant I was forced to listen to my thoughts. My thoughts (retrospectively) were quite entertaining. I was constantly coaching myself out of competition with others. Running, at my current stage at least (and for my forseeable future), is SO not about that. I had the nerve to think...literally, in my little 'just started running 6 months ago' head - "This must be how Allyson Felix feels" when I comfortably strode past a guy who had been ahead of me for most of the run. Really? Allyson Felix, huh? lol
4. Most importantly, I'm still 3 months away from my half, training hasn't technically started for it yet, and I just completed half the distance of it.  That felt good. 

Here's a pic from the foggy morning 6.55 miler. 

I've been out of running commission for the last 4 days because of a nasty little virus, but I hope to hit the pavement tonight!

Happy Running.

#RunRoRun

Tuesday Night Sights

In my lane.

#RunRoRun

I Learned 2 Important Lessons This Weekend

1. Don't stay out late celebrating a Cotton Bowl win (Gig 'Em Aggies!!) the night before a morning run.
2. Running with others matters.

In my morning struggle, I was late to the group meet-up to run. Another guy happened to also be late and we agreed to run a different route on our own. This guy runs several marathons a year, likely at a pace almost twice as fast as mine. I assumed we'd jog to the start of our run together (Queensboro bridge) and then run on our own. No. He insisted on running with me. I pleaded with him to go ahead of me, but to no avail. He ran alongside me, telling me funny stories and pushing me to keep going when I wanted to stop. I know that I would have run about half of what I actually ran had he not been there.

I've always underestimated the power of running with others, but now I'm a believer. Much love to the running community.

xoxo
#RunRoRun

I Go...On and On and On

Its been a while since I've posted, but I've been running! Promise! I figured it was time I highlight some of the fun things that have been going on since I last blogged. I will make a goal of blogging at least once a week as I work towards my next big milestone . And, since we're on the subject....

I'm running my first-ever HALF MARATHON!! *cue reggae airhorn*

It wasn't that long ago that I nervously prepared for my first 5K and now I'm crazy excited to train for my first Half! While I did not consider the fact that I'd be training during the coldest months of the year (womp), I'm up for the challenge. This particular race only accepts a limited number of people so I felt quite lucky to be picked.

I've been fortunate to meet and run with some pretty cool folks who happen to be affiliated with Nike. When they were having a New Year's Eve party and run (read: run in 30 degree weather, 25 with windchill) my otherwise logical self thought - "Wow, this seems like fun!" Note - you be the judge over the next few months, but I think running clouds logic.

Anyway, I decided to go for it. My grandmother always told me to bring in the New Year how I plan to spend it and I knew I wanted to up my running game this year so I was in! Here are a few pics:

When we arrived, DJ Mode was transitioning from All Gold Everything to Pour it Up  which meant I danced the entire walk from the front door to where we were told to pick up our bags. Bags? Umm yes! When we RSVP'd we were asked our shirt and shoe size so when we arrived, they had a backpack with our names. Stuffed inside was a cute Running Vest, LunarGlide 4s and our Race number. Score! (Sidenote: This is New Year's Eve. A day when we usually shell out a bunch of money on an outfit we'll wear once, go to a party to do exactly what we did 2 weekends before, and probably pay way too much to be at said party. Here I am in the most comfortable shoes & clothes I own, haven't spent a dime...and they are giving ME stuff! Mind. Blown. 2013, I already love you.) 

After receiving our bags, we were asked to wear the vests and we went to the dance floor. The time I spent dancing got me to my Fuel goal in no time! Oww!

This is my absolute favorite pic of the night. (And apparently it was everyone else's too since we made the Top Ten. Oww!)

The photog just started snapping pics during our trial and error for the jumping pic and I thought this candid was funny. (And yes, this is a real candid as you can see by my full Cheshire grin; not one of the fake instagram 'candids.' lol) 

After a few hours of dancing, eating, toasting and photoboothing, we grabbed our stuff and headed to Central Park to kick off the New Year with a run. I wish I'd gotten photos of all of the crazy costumes, but there were people wearing Christmas lights, Santa suits, pimp coats - you name it, it was there. The race kicked off with midnight fireworks. My friend Ann implored me to start with the 7 min mile crew. Ha! That lasted about half a mile. lol (One day!) Here's video from the start of the race:

Finally, a friend asked me to gchat with a fellow runner for his new site Eavsdrop! It's definitely the best update of what's been going on since I last blogged. Eavsdrop our convo here.

The new year is off to a great start!

Keep Running!

#RunRoRun #MakeItCount