Marine Corps Marathon 41

Guys, I ran my fastest marathon yesterday! And I didn't even train for it. I've been dreading this race for months because I just couldn't get myself to commit to a training plan. I don't like running alone in the daylight during the summer in Georgia. It's boring and it's hot. I just can't bring myself to run at 6 AM when it's still dark out. Thank you Quantavia Rivers for ruining my ability to train for marathons like a normal person you son of a bitch. I hope the Georgia state correctional system misplaces you again and forgets to feed you.

[solidcore] with Pepper!

One of my favorite CrossFit friends, Allison Pepper, is coaching at the new [solidcore] in Midtown Atlanta. It hasn't officially opened yet, but they have been offering free mock classes. There's still time to sign up.

I went to Pepper's 7 AM class on Wednesday. [solidcore] is located at 915 West Peachtree on the same block as the Alta and right next to the Wich Wich. I couldn't figure out what parking deck they referred to (maybe the Alta's parking garage?), so I just parked in a metered spot outside of Marlow's Tavern.

I woke up feeling puffy and bloated, so I took a photo of it to document that this is normal. I'm not going to be my leanest every day of the month. In other good news, you don't have to wear socks or cover your mid-drift for [solidcore]. It was cold so I did put a shirt on, but I didn't have to and that's what matters.

Hotlanta Half 2016

I ran the Hotlanta Half on Sunday, June 13 and the photos are finally ready (and then I forgot to post finish this post for a while, so the photos were actually ready back in June.) The event has free race photos - yes, I said FREE race photos. How awesome is that?

I tried not to freak myself out about this race. One, I wanted it to be fun. Two, I signed up because I needed to prove to myself that I could do some long runs for the Marine Corps Marathon. So I kept telling myself it was just an expensive long run with hydration stations and 1,600 of my closest friends.

I woke up on Saturday viciously hungover and dragged my ass to CrossFit to sweat it out. I had a great partner workout with Dave (I've been trying to get him to be my best friend for months), but there was rowing, doubleunders, over the rower burpees, and thrusters. All things that would catch up to me on Sunday. I had drunkenly slept through my 5K the previous weekend so riding the struggle bus on Saturday was actually clutch for my pre-race preparation. The boyfriend and I adulted the rest of the day and then I cooked the shrimp in my refrigerator because it was going to go bad and ate a bunch of sourdough rolls. It wasn't my usual pre-race dinner of buffalo wings, but it wasn't bad. I was in bed by 10 PM.

It's Sunday morning and I'm out of bed by 5 AM. I walk the dogs, make some toast, and cover one piece with Earth Balance creamy coconut and peanut butter spread and the other with some Kerrygold butter and fig spread. I decided to take an Uber to the race and conveniently one of my neighbors was coming home at 6:15 in the morning so I snagged his driver.

The race was super easy to get to down at Pemberton Place by World of Coke and the aquarium. I arrived, walked my ass over to bag check, and took my shirt off. I was ready to roll! Unfortunately the porta potties didn't arrive in time and the line for the real bathroom was a bajillion people long. I decided to line up and hope I'd find a restroom along the way.

I took this photo instead of standing in line to pee.

The Crossings of Colonie

Guys, I found the coolest park full of running paths on Wednesday morning. I flew up to Albany Tuesday night for yet another AmeriCorps program director training and they have us staying at the Radisson on Wolf Road. The Crossings Park is a 130-acre public park in Colonie, which I believe is a suburb of Albany. Fun fact - I spent two years of my life researching the Capitol District and Western New York when I did new site development for Teach For America, and I randomly know the zip codes of a bunch of suburbs. I also know that you're never supposed to say Upstate New York unless you want to offend someone who might give you money.

My plan was to run 2 miles and then figure out how to get back to the main road so I could stop at Dunkin Donuts for my 32 oz iced coffee. When I don't want to get up and run, I find it helpful to build in a fix for my iced coffee addiction and then I walk back caffeinated and happy. The weather was beautiful, i.e. sunny and cool, and the park had so many trails that I was able to complete an easy 5 mile run. I was pretty pleased with myself even if I did get lost in the woods.

I didn't bring my phone because I am the worst blogger on the interwebs. I fully intended to get back to take some photos but it rained yesterday and we had a 7 AM start time today (like what in the actual fuck?) so y'all don't get any photos of this idyllic place. Maybe it will motivate you to go check it out yourself the next time you're in Albany.

But here is the front of the hotel so you can see that the trees are changing colors!

Progress: Seeing the Big Picture

Last week I drove to Murfreesboro, Tennessee for a conference. I got to the hotel, obviously a Hilton, and was delighted to find the world's most flattering mirror in my room. I took that as a sign to take A LOT of selfies. (Note that "a lot" still has a space in between the a and the l, even when it's capitalized. It is my biggest Instagram pet peeve and apparently every fitness-related account can't be bothered to learn that ALOT is not a fucking word.)

Anyway, I went for a quick run around the mall parking lot on Thursday morning before the sessions started. Basically, I just wanted to get Starbucks so I took the longest possible route to get to the location that was directly next to the hotel. It was a little cold so I wore a long-sleeved shirt.

Since the mirror was just chilling out there on the closet door every time I walked near the bathroom, I felt compelled to document what I looked like post-run.

Not Getting Kidnapped in Alexandria, VA

A couple of weeks ago, I had to fly into DC for a conference in Alexandria. It conflicted with a work retreat, so I ended up being there for less than 24 hours and only attended the opening session. Serious waste of time and money, but I did enjoy a nice run.

I wake up in Hiltons ALL of the time. The rooms pretty much look alike, and the ones from the same chain are usually identical. They only vary in size based on the location. New York hotel rooms are usually tiny. Houston hotel rooms are usually big enough to have guests over for handstand practice.

I like to look for potential running routes on MapMyRun when I'm in a new place. Then I compare the route to Google maps to make sure I understand where I'm heading. I had a general idea of where I wanted to go and set out from the hotel.

I wasn't sure about all of the green space I saw on the map, but I figured I'd find something nice and I did. I made a random right and found the entrance to the Dora Kelley Nature Park.

September 2016 Goals

Pure Barre Goal: Zero, but my colleague from our New Orleans campus is a certified barre3 instruction and she taught a class at our retreat last week. She is a GREAT instructor. I can't say if I like the method because it wasn't a traditional class in a studio. We took over the basketball court and borrowed equipment from the hotel gym. I'm going to make her take me to class with her when I go visit her campus this year.

CrossFit Goal: 115/200 WODs. I dropped in at Reebok CrossFit 5th Ave and PR'd my Fran time! I also did a two-a-day with my best betch Kayte. I am so proud of her and her dedication to CrossFit. She hits the gym twice a day regularly. She let me row with her and then we did clean and jerks and GHD sit-ups and some handstand work. If I could get my life in order and get on top of all of my work, I would definitely train with her more often.

Mileage: I ran 7.6 miles while traveling for work. I did a 5.37 mile run in Alexandria and found a nifty trail. I then did a short 2.26 jog around the golf course with some coworkers while we attended our retreat at the Minerals Springs Spa and Resort in New Jersey.

Life and Wellness Goals: September was freaking stressful. I felt like I was in a bad mood the entire month. But a lot of good things happened in September. We passed our site monitoring visit for our New York State grant, and I was really concerned about that. I got to see some great friends while I was in New York. I had a great conversation with our CEO and finally feel like maybe I'm doing a good job at work. I got to spend two days with my colleagues at the retreat and actually make a few work friends. Working from home is the shit, but you don't get to make friends in the mailroom because you don't have one.

I've been sleeping pretty well, eating pretty okay for the amount of travel I've done recently, and binge drinking a moderate amount. Things could definitely be worse.

Lately, I've been catching myself trying to cut calories or skip meals. While this can deliver results in the short-term, it can really fuck up your metabolism. I've been playing around with my macros to see what I respond to best. I am currently aiming for 135g of protein, 150g of carbohydrates, and 55g of fat a day. This is less fat and more carbs than I'm used to and it's been working pretty well. I feel rich in carbs and that makes me feel good about what I'm eating. If I do a long run on Saturday (which I've done exactly once), I up my carbs to 300g and my fat to 80g. I'm not a doctor and this is not advice. The macros I use won't work for you because they're not based on your size, goals, or activity level. If you want your numbers calculated, I highly recommend Jenna Carelli.

The Best Week in New Jersey Ever

This morning I woke up from a really weird dream where I was at a house party in Princeton, NJ and something really creepy was living in closets filled with water in the basement. While definitely terrifying, it was also a really fun party. Frank was there but he did not want to go in the basement, because he is smart.

My dream got me thinking about the last time I was in New Jersey. I fly up a few times a year to attend meetings with the New Jersey Commission on National and Community Service. Last month's meeting was held at Mercer County Community College in West Windsor and I decided to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Hamilton. Dude, I stay in several hotels a month and we know I've got loyalties to Hilton, especially Garden Inns, but this was my favorite hotel to stay in ever. I walked in and it was like Cheers. There's a bunch of regulars who come in each week for work and everybody knows their names and I really really wanted to become a regular too. There is also a mini putt putt course. And party lights in the lobby.

Fran at Reebok CrossFit Fifth Ave

Way back in 2013, I was sleeping with this guy who was really into CrossFit. He routinely asked me how many doubleunders I could do, and the answer was always zero. He was a member at Reebok 5th Ave and he invited me to drop-in with him pretty often. I always said no because I was ashamed that I had gotten so out of shape. I made many poor decisions, including sleeping with him, and ordering a ridiculous amount of Chinese food instead of going to the gym. He told me that if I ever got a 5 minute Fran time, he would publicly declare me superior to him and buy me a tiara. The relationship ended terribly, but it was the catalyst I needed to turn my life around. I signed up for my own CrossFit box and now I have friends and I say nice things to them and let them say nice things to me. I can't even relate to Tilikum anymore.

I was back in New York last week and I got to work out with two of my favorite CrossFit loves, Abby and Svetlana. They now go to Reebok 5th Ave, and ironically the workout of the day was Fran. It's been three years and I have now dropped at 5th Ave and I can easily do 100 unbroken doubleunders. I do not have a 5 minute Fran time yet. I did knock 21 seconds off of my time for 7:09.

I literally couldn't do a handstand the last time I worked out with these ladies.

We finished off the perfect night with spicy margaritas and tacos at Mexique.

It's Football Season!

Yesterday was a fantastic day. I woke up at 5:30 to get ready for a long run with the Chattahoochee River Runners. I just joined this running club and this was my first run. This week's course was in Brookhaven, which is an area of Atlanta that I really like. I met some really lovely people, and I am grateful for Henrik who pushed me and kept me entertained for 10 whole miles. I haven't run 10 miles that fast in a very long time.

For real. Look at these splits.

There's a coffee social after the run and I chatted with some great ladies while enjoying some iced coffee at Starbucks. Then I met up with Kayte for brunch at J. Christopher's. I ate all of the things because long runs mean high carb day. We walked over to the farmer's market and bought some green beans, and then I was off to my rolfing appointment. Yesterday's session focused on my thighs and quadratus lumborum and it was intense. The QL muscle is the deepest abdominal muscle and mine is apparently very tight.

I walked my dogs, spent some time at the pool, and then got ready for the highlight of Labor Day Weekend - the Georgia football game. Sadly I did not have tickets this year, but we went to Highland Tap to watch. Martinis, steaks, and football is truly a winning combination.