Central Park, treadmill, bouldering, water bottles, and fireworks

It’s been quite an eventful week…

So I didn’t take a “break” from running; well not an official one at least but I think I am okay with that. I’ve really been working on forcing my brain to turn off and relax… who cares how fast or slow I run and who cares how many miles I accumulated for the week. On Tuesday, I went to our technical team practice because I was super excited for column runs — we were split up into two groups, run in a single file line at a slower pace (say marathon pace), and then the leader of the line screams something which is the cue for the last person in line to sprint to the front of the line. This continues for a couple of miles and is a way for us to work on our striders and form. This is probably one of my favorite technical workouts of all time! It started to run towards the end of practice and was such a refreshing way to end being in the heat.

I am convinced we have a massive heat wave (good thing Accuweather agrees with me!)… no, I’m no meteorologist but I do get a pang of fear every time I read my email alerts about poor air quality and reducing physical activity. For the last week, the temperatures have been over 90 degrees each day and the humidity is extremely high as well. It has made running outside really difficult, so the treadmill has become my new best friend. If you remember, I hated the treadmill last year but it was not quite this hot this early in the summer. Last week, Josh wanted to go for a run (shocking, I know) outside and I was like no, you can go (shocking, again). He went outside and I went to the gym. I have a favorite treadmill and as long as I am on it, I am happy enjoying the air conditioning, music from my iPhone, and logging in miles.

One of many team pictures – we’re at the Alice in Wonderland statue

And oh, I finally made it to the Tour of Central Park team run. Since last season, there’s been at least four or five long weekend runs that tour Central Park and I’ve missed all of them for various reasons. I knew there was no way I could take a break from running especially when this weekend’s long run was the tour of the park. With the heat wave, we made a lot of water stops along the way but I was so excited to run through most of the spots that I missed previously. Central Park is absolutely incredible with waterfalls, meadows, fountains, gardens, a castle, a zoo, and much more.

November 2010 – Krabi, Thailand

Also, in addition to my cross-training of barre and spin classes, I went rock climbing yesterday with Coach Ali at Brooklyn Boulders. I love the thrill of climbing a wall but I’ve only climbed less than 10 times in my life — cruise ships; actual outdoor rock climbing in Krabi, Thailand; team building activities; faux-wall in Universal Studios Florida (scroll half way down the page); and now this. I’ve always climbed with a harness and rope but we went bouldering yesterday and it was so much fun. I love the challenge of trying to make it to the top, strategizing which route to take, and the physical activity. I really need to find a way to integrate this into my routine because there are some routes I am very much angry at and until I can make it to the top, I will hold a grudge!

bkr glass + silicone water bottle

This past week, I also made a number of small running type purchases. As I receive them, I will be sure to post reviews and pictures. The first of the purchases that came in are bkr glass water bottle, Takeya glass water bottle, and Sparkly Soul lavender wide headband. I have to admit that I own too many water bottles and headbands. Josh and I both carry water bottles to work each day and then I’ll usually also use the same one for my workout later in the day. I saw a picture of a cute one (yes, it’s weird to think that water bottles are cute) on the Work It Out website and I had to find out more about it. It turns out that it is the bkr glass + silicone bottle and as I started reading more about glass water bottles, the more hooked I got, so why not give it a try. Through my research, I also found the Takeya glass water bottle. I really like both of them — the Takeya bottle is larger: 22.5 ounces and the bkr bottle is only 16 ounces. I found that the Takeya bottle is much heavier and may not be as practical for carrying around but it was great to bring along on a car ride (it fits perfectly in the cup holder and glass will do better in the heat than plastic). The bkr bottle has been to work with me twice and I love it so far. It is lighter, easy to hold, and fits in your bag. The only complain I have is that the spout is a little small, not for drinking, but for refilling.

On to my headband, I love the idea of headbands but they never stay on my head. I own normal everyday wear headbands mostly from J.Crew; I buy them out of impulse because they are cute. These generally work okay because they don’t go all the way around my head but sometimes causes headaches. Any other activity headbands — Lululemon, ribbon headbands, Bondi Bands, and prAna all do not seem to stay on my head. I’ve tried them for running, barre and spin classes and they all slip. They even slip when I wear them at home. I’ve seen Sparkly Soul at race expos, written about in blogs, and teammates with them. So when I saw Sparkly Soul was offering a random giveaway when they reached 5,000 followers on Twitter, I knew I had to give it a try (I figured with my luck, I don’t usually get picked in random drawings). My lavender wide one came in yesterday and I tried it on really quick, but not yet for any sort of activity. I am excited to see how it works for me at spin class tomorrow.

And oh, tonight was our marathon team kickoff meeting and I was very excited to be able to attend in person this year! It was absolutely incredible to meet some of the new teammates virtually and in person as well as hear their connections to Alzheimer’s. Needless to say, it was also a very emotional and inspirational meeting.

Amazing Macy’s fireworks from our rooftop

How was your July 4th holiday? Any fun purchases lately?