Save Cardio Junkie!

On Thursday nights Marcus Jackson teaches two classes back-to-back at the 85th & 3rd Equinox. Cardio Junkie gets your heart rate up and leads into Power Sculpt, where you will do exercises that target each major muscle group. Unfortunately Thursday evening happy hours are taking people out of the gym and these classes are in danger of being cancelled. While I don't think any Thursday night gym class should be forced to compete with drinking, the powers that be are comparing it to Tuesday evening classes.

To save the class start showing up! Marcus said that non-members interested in coming may attend as his guest. Contact me and I'll set it up.

Is It Socially Acceptable to Feign Injury To Get an Attractive Runner's Number?

Tonight I couldn't bring myself to workout indoors and decided to head to Central Park. Monday's excursion through the park got me thinking about the Reservoir Track and so that's where I headed after work.

Monday night's storms had left puddles all over the track, but I was kind of into the obstacle course. While maneuvering around these puddles I spotted a very attractive, tall, and blond runner running in the opposite direction. I saw him again on my second lap and again on my third. I smiled the third time I passed him, but running doesn't really permit the time to strike up a casual conversation.

So I began to think. What if I fell in front of him? Wouldn't he feel a little obligated to stop and help me up? Would I actually want to meet someone who wouldn't stop and help me up? I'm pretty klutzy so it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination that I would miss a step and sprawl out in the middle of the path. I think I'd look pretty cute covered in mud. Alas, I did not throw myself to the ground, mainly because it was getting dark and I could feel horrible blisters forming on my arches. Maybe next time.

Sunset over the Reservoir

Practice 5K in Vibrams

This morning my friend Palindrome (by the way, I use nicknames to protect the innocence of my friends who may not want to be associated with my borderline psychotic fitness life over the internet) and I met in downtown Oyster Bay to practice for next week's 5K. We decided that we had to wear our Vibrams for this excursion, although I'm not sure why since I'm not planning on racing in them. This was actually the first time I ran in my Vibrams and I really liked it. Now that I think about it, maybe I will wear them next Saturday. I did find out that stepping on a rock hurts. Really hurts. I'm not sure I'm willing to risk that kind of pain during a race.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL today and the run set the perfect tone for the day. Palindrome and I didn't run very fast (we didn't time ourselves, oops), but we were able to determine which spots would be good for speeding up or slowing down. We aim to win the Supervisor's 5K.

Open Letter to the Editor

Dear Oxygen Magazine, 

          When I was all set on an evening of couch-sitting, bad eating, and nicotine product inhaling, your November issue arrived in my mailbox. There is no getting away from you, now is there? Thank you.         

             Sincerely, 

                    former binge-eating, gym-avoiding smoker

BUSTED.

       

Running for My Sanity

I was a smoker for more than eight years. Last Thursday I was hypnotized and I am proud to say that I have not touched a cigarette since 4:54pm 9/23/10. I might not smoke cigarettes anymore but I definitely think about them. I smoked the first cigarette of the day when I left my apartment at 5:50am and had my last right before going to bed. I anxiously awaited preps and lunch periods at work and couldn't wait for 3:30 to roll around. Now that I am a non-smoker I have to take my mind off of them somehow. So I run.

I meant to go for a slow short run last night. Just something to make me forget about pausing the tv to run out for a smoke. I went over to the river and headed north. In the distance I saw the green bridge to Randall's Island and decided to go see it for the first time. The first ten minutes were pretty. Then it got weird.

View of the Triboro from Randall's Island

I ran back over the bridge and headed north. I had guzzled a lot of water by then and my bladder was displeased, but I knew I needed to keep moving. My lungs felt clear and I wasn't tired. My pace had slowed to 7'45" miles, but my legs felt fine.

It was getting dark by the time I reached 125th Street and some older men were smoking and chatting. I used to work in an unsavory neighborhood in the Bronx and I admit this has affected my gauge of dangerous situations. Although I wasn't scared I figured I should turn back before it got completely dark.

Running back towards the apartment.

My First Race in 8 Years

I ran my first race today since my Island School Half Marathon.  The Michael Trama Memorial 5K Run/Walk was held at Centre Island Beach to benefit the Trama family, who sadly lost their father to an undiagnosed tumor.  I didn't realize I was going to be around this weekend, but I came back to my parents' house, saw the race online, and showed up this morning.

I finished in 21 minutes 55 seconds, coming in 3rd for women overall and 1st in my age group.  Booyah!

Equifit

For some reason, I always get offered an Equifit when I'm overweight and out of shape. An Equifit is Equinox's fitness assessment and complimentary training session. On Tuesday I was heading into the 85th and 3rd location for Omar's class when a trainer named Morgan stopped me. I signed up for an appointment for last night. My results place me in the average range. Average? Me? Mediocrity is synonymous with death! I was able to do 25 push ups, which is good, but 30 would've been excellent. Morgan assures me he can fix this. We have our training session scheduled for Thursday, and if I can afford it I'd like to work with him once a week.

I stuck around for 8-Pack Abs with Mario Green. This half hour class is a full core workout that aims for muscle failure. I plan to incorporate it into my schedule. I kind of wanted to stay for R.I.P.P.E.D but I still feel gross from my delightful case of food poisoning.

Tonight I'm either going for a long river run or hitting up Cardio Junkie. My Equifit has reminded me that I have a lot of work to do.

Vibram

Now that I'm back in my apartment and my toe is nearly healed, it's time to break out the Vibram Five Fingers. I really like them as a commuter shoe, and wore them to and from school yesterday. They attract a lot of attention. Some girls from the high school located near the elementary school I work in were so fascinated by my footwear that they asked to take pictures of them on their phones.

I wore my Vibrams to Urban Rebounding for the first time. Terrell, the instructor, has a pair and he recommends them for this workout. I found that the class felt more difficult with them on because they don't give you the same bounce as a pair of sneakers. I think this is a good thing because I had to work my legs and core more to do the moves, therefore maximizing the time I spent in the class.

After class Terrell and I discussed how people who are knowledgeable about fitness recognize Vibram Five Fingers as a training shoe, but the rest of the population will try to make fun of you. Don't wear Vibrams if you aren't prepared to answer questions and take a little teasing.

New Tanning Bed!

The KBL America

 There's a new bed at Beach Bum Tanning in Greenvale! With a 10 minute maximum, you know the bulbs are fresh. I haven't been in a bed this high-tech since I went tanning in Paris. Um yes, I went tanning in Paris. Regularly. I have an excuse, I was depressed.

The KBL America (God I love patriotic product names!) is a cocoon of vitamin D and happiness. It has a built-in sound system and different controls located at eye level. I don't actually mess with those things (while I was in France I couldn't even understand them) but you can change the volume, music, etc. There is an aromatherapy option (gross) but (thankfully) Beach Bum hasn't put any scent in. The thing that I love about newer beds is the mist function and the KBL America has it. After about 4 minutes it mists automatically, keeping you cool, and fresh.

The KBL America is a Diamond Level bed. I think it's worth the money to tan Diamond if you don't tan as often as you did in high school.

My Feet Are So Busted I'm Embarrassed to Get a Pedicure

It's true. I'm embarrassed to let Pearl see my feet because I know what she is going to say to me. She is going to lecture me about my athletic endeavors and my insistence on wearing inappropriately cute party shoes for long stretches at a time. A few weeks ago I badly stubbed my right pinky toe during a night of debauchery. Days later I stubbed it again on one of the many baby gates that act as an obstacle course in my parents' house. Then I stubbed it on my sheets. (Didn't know that one was possible, now did you?) I have been regularly attending kickboxing, dance, sculpt, and something painful called Tabata Cardio. My right pinky toe now resembles a squashed sea slug that has been left to rot on a shadeless beach.

To compensate for my disfigured and dysfunctional toe, I think I started landing on my foot differently. This has lead to a sharp pain in my foot that screams, "Stress fractures!" to me, but what do I know? There's no visible bruising like the last time I had stress fractures in my feet, so perhaps it's not so serious.


To add insult to injury, I decided to wear the cutest, yet most ill-fitting hot pink pumps last Friday night. I was heading up to Hartford for the MML's birthday and I found a hot pink party dress in the basement. Obviously this meant that I needed to wear these adorable Bebe shoes with pink plumes with it. Only problem is that these shoes always rip up my feet (even when my feet aren't already abused), which is why I haven't worn them since high school. Trotting down Trumbull in those things was a seriously poor decision.

Today I broke out the nail clippers, nail scissors, and tweezers and dug out every ingrown nail I could find. My toenails are grossly misshapen, my blisters have callouses and my callouses have blisters, but I'm pretty confident that I will be able to attend kickboxing tomorrow night without toe pain. Now if only I could touch my toes...