Cheating

This post is about food - cheat meals, cheat days, cheat months, whatever. I frown upon all other forms of cheating, including cheating on your hairdresser. Nothing good ever comes of it.

I think everyone has an opinion on cheating and their diet. (I'm interested in your opinions so please comment and let's get a discussion going.) Some folks go with the cheat meal once a week, others have dessert at one meal every day. One of my favorite coaches and his girlfriend eat incredibly clean except for about once a month when they celebrate that month's holiday. (It's actually pretty cool - you can go through the calendar and actually find a major religious or cultural holiday that warrants sugar cookies and booze each month.) My boyfriend eats like a saint Sunday through Friday and then Saturday is a hedonistic free-for-all of Doritos, ice cream, and whisky. (He has some of the best ab definition I've ever seen so clearly this works for him.) I try to follow his example but I'm a work in progress.

I've been a lot more consistent since I moved to Georgia. I have a protein shake that I split between before and after my morning workout. I eat some bacon after my morning shower. Lunch is Caprese Greek yogurt with a tuna packet or 3 oz of Boar's Head Ovengold roast turkey. For dinner I've been eating 3-5 oz of steak with steam in the bag broccoli and cauliflower with a tablespoon of Kerrygold butter. I might also have another protein shake. But then fun things pop up, like the Professor was in town for work and we had a delicious dinner that involved fried asparagus fries. And yesterday I ended up staying at the office later than I had planned and I picked up some sushi and a packet of Raisinets. I took today off from CrossFit, completely throwing off my autopilot morning routine and forgot my Fage at home. I went to Publix, where I could have purchased a Fage, and instead walked out with 8 pieces of fried chicken, a slice of key lime pie, and a half-gallon of unsweetened iced tea*. Best damn 1,400 calories I've ever had.

Sniffles and a Shake Out Run

My allergies flared up like crazy after yesterday's WOD. Feeling like garbage, I struggled to fall asleep and I had a 6:20 AM run scheduled with the Professor.

2 AM. Wide awake. Don't I look sexy?

Some Runs I've Done

This morning I met the Professor for a run in Central Park. Today might be the first time he and I have ever done a weekday morning run come to think of it. It was a casual combination of road and the reservoir and we cut out onto the pavement at Columbus Circle.

Since I haven't posted a lot of my recent running photos and I just upgraded my picmonkey account, I made you some collages.

Shake Out Run

Today I woke up feeling really good but definitely pretty sore. I managed to sleep for almost seven hours, which is a huge improvement over any other night this week.

I decided to go for a slow run to shake out the soreness in my muscles. My back and legs feel pretty tight still but it was good to get the blood flowing. I went around the cul-de-sac a few times and then called it a day at 5 miles.

If you want to stalk me...

Speaking of 5 miles, look at Lap 5. That's some bullshit. 

I've gotten into running with music lately. Remember the backgammon partner from January 2012? Well, he now goes by DJ Alex Cecil and he's pretty good. (Full disclosure: I in no way supported his DJ dreams and thought it was a ridiculous idea. Well, this is crow and I'm eating it.) 

I use Soundcloud to pull up his mixes on my phone and run to them. I love not having to make my own playlists or fiddling around with Spotify to find a song I'm in the mood to hear. Check him out here. I recommend the "Pardon me for asking" mix for slow long runs, especially if you like Biggie.

Just enjoying some sweet tunes/using a photo op as an excuse to rest.

I also saw a snake on my run! It's body was probably as thick as a pencil but I edited the photo below to look badass. You mean you don't crop out everything that can be used as a frame of reference?

Guess who fits into the running outfit she got from the Professor and the Professor's Wife for her birthday 2 years ago? I'm looking good if I do say so myself.

Three Boroughs Run

Today the Professor and I ran a casual 10 miles over the Triboro, through Astoria, over the Pulanski, through Williamsburg, and over the Williamsburg Bridge to the Lower Eastside.

I've tumbled off the Paleo wagon so hard, I've got bruises - or maybe those are because I like to drink? I woke up in my own bed this morning, wearing sweats, and my phone was in a bag of rice. I have little recollection of my Irish Exit last evening, but when I wake up in a winning situation, I don't complain. I had more than enough time to chug seltzer water and eat a nutritious breakfast slash watch The Young and the Restless.

The Professor and I met outside of 7-Eleven at noon and took off towards the East River Esplanade.

The bridges in the distance.

We ran over the bridge to Ward Island. I really dislike that bridge because it makes me feel nauseous. I'm convinced that I am going to slip and fall right off of it.

Ward Island

We ran to the entrance of the pedestrian path on the Triboro Bridge. This lovely cage doesn't last for long. The concrete walls that you can see below are that height all along the bridge WITHOUT THE CAGE. Between the cars and the snow and the lack of protection from falling to our deaths, it was a little nerve-wracking. I handled it better than the Professor, but I don't blame him for being less than pleased by the situation. I am afraid of the Brooklyn Bridge so I'm not sure why the Triboro didn't get to me.

I appreciate that the Professor wears shorts over his tights.

We ran through Astoria, making a pit stop at the car wash so that I could use the restroom. My healthy breakfast of chicken and vegetables had come back to haunt me. Or maybe it was the pickleback shots from the evening before...

It's interesting to watch the people and neighborhoods change throughout this run. At about mile 5 (still in Astoria), we saw our first hipster. Brooklyn was full of them. Hipsters make me itch.

BROOKLYN LOVE

The Williamsburg Bridge was probably the coolest of the four bridges we ran on today.

The Professor on the Williamsburg Bridge

a mural

Selfie on the Williamsburg Bridge

The ascent of the bridge is pretty challenging with the wind, but the descent is awesome. I just trucked it the last mile downhill.

Right after I took this picture.

My Garmin satellites didn't catch until about .4 of a mile into the run, so I think I ran closer to 10.5 miles.

We had brunch at a place we passed called Donnybrook on the Lower Eastside. Brunch is $14 for a meal and THREE alcoholic beverages. Amazing.

The Marathon Was Cancelled - Read This

As you've probably heard, the New York City Marathon was cancelled. I'm a little over the unnecessary Facebook arguing, but I love this article the Professor wrote about the email NYRR sent out to its members: http://www.maslansky.com/2012/11/language-of-cancellations-an-analysis-of-nyrrs-message-to-runners/

The Professor Runs the NYC Half

While I was enjoying my last morning in Florida, the Professor took on the NYC Half Marathon. Please enjoy In Shape Out of Mind's very first guest post.


This Sunday I ran the NYC Half Marathon and I shattered my PR. I ran a 1:51:23, which is 8:00 minutes and change faster than my previous half marathon PR. Woot. Maybe it was worth not going out on St. Patrick's Day. Although seeing through sober eyes those Long Island and New Jersey animals stumble around Manhattan during this day is enough to make me question the holliday altogether, and I use that term loosely.

This year I am trying to only run Saturday races because Sunday races kill your weekend. But I hadn’t ever run the NYC half so I made an exception when I was lucky enough to make the lottery.

I woke from anxious dreams at about 6:15 am. I already had my outfit laid out because I am a sick tool.  I wore my Dylan Murphy's shirt (my standard racing shirt and favorite bar in NYC – ISOOM would agree) on top of a teck shirt from last December's Jingle Bell jog that I did not run in because I stayed out the night before. It's a bit of a sacrilege to wear a race shirt from a race you slept through but I am not going to turn down a teck shirt and especially one that is cool and white. So whatever.

I live only a couple of blocks from where most NYRR races start, so I can’t complain. This race was no exception. My neighbor just happened to be running this race as well, so we bumped into each in the hallway. This is the only situation where bumping into my neighbor at 6:30 am would be a positive thing.
The corrals were awful and it was cold. This is a huge race with tons of people, which just makes everything more annoying. And there is soemthing about running that makes people dress like Europeans. Don’t get me wrong, many of the girls on the North Brooklyn running team wear really hot outfits. But there are also many runners – especially male – who fail to meet basic wardrobe standards. Tights shall not replace shorts, unless you are rowing or biking.  Long tshirts are for girls.  Shaving your legs is for girls.  Being a premadonna at 6:30 am while everyone else is waking up is not acceptable.

I am the creepshow lurking in the back with sunglasses on. Maybe the sun will come out later. 

Before I continue I should note that the race photos in this post are taken stolen from Brightroom. Before I continue my story, here is the easiest way to steal these photos and keep them high-ish quality:
1. Take a screeen shot of the Brightroom dashboard that shows your photos
2. Paste into PPT
3. Crop around your photo and expand
4. Right click and save as JPEG

To continue, they tell you that they close down the corrals at 7:00 am but they are liars. You could definitely show up at 7:30 and walk right in. There was a lot of waiting around, and I did not cross the start line until 7:50 even though I had a half-way decent corral.

Can you tell which green bump is Harlem Hill?

The first 6+ miles was the standard central park loop. This is my home field so I was really able to attack it.  I know all the hills and bumps that feel like hills when you start to get tired. I also knew that this was the only part of the race with any hills so I might as well leave it all in the park.

Crossing the 10k mark right before 7th ave. Still not sunny out. 

After the park I slowed down. The course shoots you out onto 7th avenue and you run through Times Square.  I was underwhelmed. When you are on the street in New York you are typically in a cab zooming, and so to pass the street signs at a running pace is a bit deflating. Plus I was at the half-way mark and that is when I start to get inside my head and convince myself I won’t finish or will finish with a bad time. For me those middle miles are the hardest.

On 42nd we turned right and headed for the West River Drive. I know this terrain extremely well, as I work in the West Village and frequently run home up the West River. We were on the actual drive though so it wasn't nearly as sexy as when you run through the actual park and over all the weird foot bridges. ISOOM has a past post on this. I am featured so it’s probably one of her better ones.

I realize I am about to complain again but whatever. They stationed a bunch of bands along the course and they were all awful – with TWO exceptions. The first was a Beasty Boys cover band who was awesome and entertaining. They dressed like they did from Paul's Boutique. That said, I was running with headphones on because none of my friends wanted to do this one, so the added music of the live bands just created an annoying discord.

The second though was a cheer…I want to say squad? from some local high school. Of course I assume they are from some impoverished district and worked real hard to get to where they are and overcame adversity and stuff, but who am I kidding I bet they were probably a bunch of Chapin Spence girls.  Regardless of my charmingly patrician stereotyping, they were cool and gave everyone a nice boost as we crossed 14th street with 3.1 miles to go.

At this point I knew that if I even ran 10:00 miles I would beat my PR, and that was the best feeling I had in the race. I could dial it in. I didn’t though and kept up a fastish pace.

Until the Battery Park tunnel. That you run through. On mile 12. People were hooting and hollering like 12 year olds do when you pass under bridges on boats, which was cute. But the air quality was horrible and the lingering exhaust stung my eyes and shortened my breath. Lame. There was also a slight hill at the end. But then we veered left and right onto Water Street to meet extremely encouraging cheers and applause. That was cool.

After crossing the finish they gave you a medal and foodstuffs. I believe medals should only be given for full marathons, so I told myself I wouldn’t wear it unless I did something great. A time of 1:51 far exceeded my expectations though so I threw it on. The care package contained Gatorade Replenish. DO NOT DRINK THIS. It's crab juice. It tastes like chalky cough syrup.

The finishers shoot looped you more than THREE BLOCKS before you could leave. And they forced you in to the Poland Spring expo which I thought was a cheap move. At that point I was cold and wanted to go home.

ISOOM asked me what my favorite part of the race was and I don’t have one other than the accomplishment itself.  I hear a lot of people talk about the joys of running and I have to believe that most people who say that are idiots or liars or both. Running is hard work. It is painful. Long distance running is hard, painful work stretched out over several hours.

I shattered my PR. I was very unsure I could do that. I trained hard to give myself the opportunity to do so, and it paid off. That is something awesome.

Calling in the PR. Still cloudy.
Also see the bandit in the background getting stopped. 

Take the Long Way Home

The Professor and I reunited for a weekday evening long run. Not since August have we enjoyed a nice run along the Westside Highway together. We met up at 34th Street and headed uptown. We started off at a reasonable pace (except my Garmin didn't catch its satellites until later in the run so it made it seem like I ran a bajillion minute mile) and I was feeling pretty good. I realized that I had tied my shoes really loosely within the first mile, but I refused to let myself retie them. There's something to the looser shoes. I also forgot my hair clips and drove myself crazy until the snow shellacked my wispy pieces to the sides of my head.

New Jersey!

We didn't really talk much. I think I've been inside my own head a lot, and I've spoken to a few people I trust about what's been bothering me. I questioned if I should try to tell the Professor about it, but it seemed kind of forced. This is weird for me because I usually go to him first when I'm trying to figure something out.

My photography skills are amazing.

The Professor really likes the park by the Westside Highway and I must admit that it is pretty neat. It is so empty now (28 degrees, February, snow) compared to in the summer. I think I enjoy it more now than then too. I told the Professor I was only going to stay up to post about this run tonight if I could take awkward pictures while we were running. I asked that he just keep going and that I would catch up.

One of the creepier statues in New York, especially at night in a deserted park.

I really wish that I had gotten a photo of the rapist tunnel at about 97th Street that takes you through Riverside Park. It really is creepy because it's well lit but shoots you out into this dark path lined with trees. We didn't see anyone sketchy (surprisingly), but it's probably because it's so cold out. We did see another runner, however.

In my defense, I was wearing glove mittens and
I couldn't really handle the buttons.

We left Riverside Park and cut east towards Central Park. We entered at 110th and headed up into the Harlem Hills. I run those all of the time in the morning with T and in the evenings by myself or with the neighbor. I didn't realize that the Professor doesn't get to enjoy those bad boys on a regular basis, and he;s never run the loop backwards. Clearly we have a new item for our to-do list.

I have wanted to go on a date at the West 79th Street Boat Basin Café for a while.
Hint hint once it's warm. I'm talking to you Backgammon Partner.
(I don't know if he reads this. I don't know if he'll be around once it's warm.)

By this point it was snowing and not just kind of freezing raining. I felt awesome. It kept me cool but not cold. The Professor had 2 miles on me because he ran from his office and met me near mine. I don't think he felt as awesome as I did, but he was definitely holding his own. I broke out a 90-calorie reduced-fat chocolate chip Quaker Oats granola bar I jacked from work. The Professor and I split it and shared some water at my mile 6.

Around mile 7, I decided I was going to keep running after the Professor left. I hit 8.25 at 72nd and made the Professor take some photos with me. Remember my requirements on writing this post this evening. I gave my Backgammon Partner a call because I was very close to his apartment and I would choose a workout with him over a workout in the park, but alas he is preparing for a very important interview. Keep your fingers crossed for him.

I put my earphones in and turned on Lana Del Rey's Born to Die (Deluxe Version) and headed up Cat Hill. I ran the full six-mile loop. It was cold. My fingers started to burn. I wasn't tired though and I felt like I could just keep running and running. It went by pretty quickly.

Somewhere in the west 90s, I was listening to "National Anthem" with the snowy sleet hitting me in the face and it occurred to me that when they make the film of my life, they should have a scene of me (hopefully played by a former Disney star very close to a nervous breakdown) where I am running to this song in the snow and this signals the beginning of my downward spiral, before sort of hitting rockbottom, and then rising like a phoenix to return and sieze the day. Unfortunately this song is all about partying in the Hamptons, which doesn't really mesh well with the snow. And let's be honest - my parents thought I would hit rockbottom years ago and instead I routinely rise like a phoenix and can be found running a race the next freaking day. Nonetheless, I expect a movie of my life and I don't intend it to be on Lifetime, unless its going to be one of those awesomely advertised specials that college girls insist upon DVRing.

I digress.

Map of my run.

I found myself back at 72nd Street and stopped my Garmin at 14.61 miles. I texted the Backgammon Partner back because he had sent me some messages while I was running. I wanted to shake my legs out a bit so I walked over to Park and then started the Garmin and began running again. Obviously I forgot my Metro card at work (I remembered everything else!) so I needed to go over to 86th Street and buy another one. Don't get me started on those fucking ghetto machines. Thank God I had 5 bucks in my running pouch. I also dropped my super sweet Brooks running glove but this very attractive Asian man returned it to me.

I like capers with my salmon.

My favorite.

I went by the Fairway to pick up dinner and dessert (I ran 15.54 miles - I get to eat gelato.) The poached salmon with caper dill sauce may be the most delicious thing I have ever eaten and it was
under $9.

So much easier than typing out the splits.

I actually completed my run only 16 minutes later than my Caumsett 25K time. Things are looking up for the Caumsett 50K.

I got some weird looks at Fairway. I guess I did resemble a wet rat by the end.

 I just realized my favorite padded bra is in my desk drawer at work. Eff.

The Brooklyn Marathon

The Brooklyn Marathon was on Sunday morning. I planned poorly for this race, starting with a happy hour on Thursday night that lasted into Saturday afternoon. Dinner plans fell through for Saturday (I tried, I promise), and I ended up at a bar in Alphabet City with the 34 year-old and his spectacular friend who was visiting for the weekend. I restricted myself to only two jager bombs and was home by midnight. But then I couldn't sleep. Then I couldn't sleep because I was hungry. Then I couldn't sleep because I was hungry and scared out of my mind by the one scary episode of Psych (the one where the creepy chick is killing off the sorority girls and Jules is undercover.) It was 5:15 AM before I knew it.


I woke up bleary-eyed and starving. And pissed off. And the light was still out in my apartment. (Don't worry. I  have since climbed up on top of my kitchen table and replaced the burnt out bulb with not one, but two 60 watt energy-saving light bulbs.) I really didn't want to run this race. I wanted an effing bagel.


Fortunately the Professor and his lovely wife had the car in town. T also got up at the crack of dawn to come to Brooklyn with us, which I thought was exceptionally nice of her. We managed to get over the bridge and onto Flatbush Avenue with minimal rerouting, and got a quality parking spot right near the park.

BEFORE the race.

The course was made up of 2 little loops, 6 big loops, and 1 little loop. The little loop was less than three miles and the big loop was about 3.25 miles. I got confused and it was tedious. The Professor and I took off together but I stopped at the first porta-potty, which was no joke, less than 500 feet into the race. When I exited, everyone was in front of me. I have never literally been the last person. It was creepy. I was able to catch up with the Professor before the first mile.

We had a really good pace going. I think we were maintaining 9:40 minute miles. I was really hungry though - the KIND bar I had eaten wasn't holding me over. My feet were killing me (I think I tied my shoes too tight) and I felt queasy. I had to make another pit stop at mile 9, but when I came back out I couldn't see the Professor. He was too far ahead and I didn't have the energy to sprint and find him going up this never-ending Prospect Park hill. What the hell is this hill? Shouldn't we have realized something was wrong when all the other runners were running down the hill?

I ran alone for the next 11 miles. The going was tough. I felt like garbage. I was wearing my watch, but something was up with my heart rate monitor, so I wasn't sure how much effort I was exerting. Parts of the race were boring and others were lonely. This idiot woman kept telling me to drop my water bottle every 3 miles. I can't drop my water bottle. I get thirsty. I take a lot of Ritalin. EFF YOU!

I caught sight of the Professor at mile 20, so I picked up the pace and managed to join him. I found my energy to push through and make it. But this is when I had to make a serious decision. The Professor wanted to walk portions of the final 6.2, and I believe him when he said he needed to. I was feeling pretty damn crappy, but I only walk through fuel stations. Months ago (in early September), I had promised that I would complete the Brooklyn Marathon with him. Our ideas of what that would look like had changed over the past eleven weeks, and I admit that I thought this was going to be my opportunity to shave some time off my last marathon. It's a small race, no elite athletes, minimal crowds - this was my time. Of course I thought it was appropriate to drink and eat crap (even worse than usual) for the days up to this race, but I still had a chance of PRing. But a promise is a promise, and so we walked.

I don't want anyone getting the idea that we had suddenly given up, or that we were the slow people hobbling in the back who didn't belong in a marathon. People walk portions of marathons all the time. Jeff Galloway even has a trademarked RUN-WALK-RUN™ method. I'm just not comfortable walking in races. We managed though, and I think we ran most of the final 6.2 miles. We reached the final fuel station (which looked drastically different with only two people managing it the 9th time around) at just shy of 26 miles. We needed to pick up the pace because we were so close. I said something that I will not repeat but that I knew would fire the Professor up.


Our finish was impressive. One we had dressed alike and that looked cool. We ran as fast as we could across the finish line and I kept on cheering and then raising my arms to get the spectators (i.e. finished runners) to cheer too.

I think we look a lot better AFTER.

I had called the 34 year-old at mile 11 (I know, I know - it's weird that I make phone calls during a race. I was also e-mailing about writing a recommendation for someone) and he was supposed to meet me at the finish line with a bagel. He got lost in the park (I mean, it could have happened to anyone...) and I tried to go look for him - and ended up running an additional 2 miles. Technically my inaugural Brooklyn Marathon was an ultra.

The unofficial results:

Place	Name	City	Bib No	Age	Gender	Age Group	Chip Time	Gun Time
196	The Professor	NEW YORK	96	31	M	55 30-39	4:29:00.0	4:29:24.4
197	In Shape Out of Mind	NEW YORK	83	25	F	21 20-29	4::29:00.4	4:29:24.2

How did he beat me if I have a faster gun time?