Happy Thanksgiving and updates!

Hello! It’s been a little while I blogged so here is a quick update from my end —

img_6248I ran the Race to Deliver 4 Miler in Central Park with my friend, Toni last weekend. It was nice to run in Central Park again and the fall trees looked amazing. I really miss running in Central Park. I also really miss running in races.

I have also been experimenting with different running and cross training schedules as I have been building my Los Angeles marathon training plan. Training starts tomorrow – 16 weeks to go! Ahh! More to come on my training strategy as I finalize the details. I enjoyed an early morning 5:45AM spin class at Prime Cycle last week. I miss spin classes and how bad I am at them! But it’s definitely a great workout. I also attended a couple of Wet Barre (Cardio!) classes. Planks, burpees, and mountain climbers, how I love to hate you. And in attempting to break into the routine of running in the morning, I ran on the treadmill a couple of mornings and did a hill workout with the Elysianettes running group one day. I am hoping to attend a couple of runs a week with the group. This coming week will certainly be an experiment with getting up early consistently to get the workouts in and I will be sure to update you on how it all goes.

img_6271This year I started Black Friday shopping even earlier. I love going to the stores on Black Friday but didn’t make it out. However, I did start shopping since the Monday before the holiday – I love me a good sale. My favorites this year include Gap’s 50% off, Athleta’s 20%, J. Crew’s 40%, Madewell’s 25%, Nordstrom’s 20% off sale, Brooks free socks and sale on the Launch 3 and Amazon’s select sale items. Many of these sales end tonight, so hurry and take advantage!

img_6281And finally, we had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed an amazing holiday weekend with family and friends and a lot of yummy food. For Thanksgiving dinner, my contribution was stuffing (Josh’s family recipe), cranberry sauce, and apple dumpling cake. And if you wanted to try the recipes, I half the amount of sugar used in both. There is a lot to be thankful for this year and it was fun celebrating Charlotte’s first Thanksgiving. I know there will be even more fun to come in future years.

Hope everyone had a great holiday and weekend! 

Running updates and Los Angeles Marathon

Just popping in for a quick hello…

I haven’t been running too much since the Bronx 10 Mile. I was sore for a couple of days and then with schedules, I wasn’t able to fit a run in again until we were in Pittsburgh last weekend visiting family. I did a run/walk with Josh’s parents, his dad is training for his first triathlon and I’m helping coach. We ran/walked some pretty steep hills in the neighborhood and it felt really nice to get out there.

This past weekend, I was able to fit in a Wet Barre (Cardio!) class on Saturday morning. I’ve taken this class a couple of times postpartum and it really kicks my butt. Yesterday, I even managed a 2 mile run on the treadmill before heading to a baby shower. Let’s see how long I can keep up this routine for.

img_4525However, the most important running news as of late is that I signed for the Los Angeles Marathon in March. We have been toying with the idea of me running the Tokyo Marathon (it’s a World Major and a big bucket list race for me) in February but after much back and forth decided that such a big trip was likely too much with a 7 month old. I really wanted a goal race to train for post-baby and a vacation, and decided on Los Angeles. We loved our trip there earlier this year and are excited to go back. The course, from what I read, is somewhat hilly in the beginning but I am excited to run from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica. Now I just need to find a way to start running consistently and the time to train for a marathon – wish me luck!

In other exciting news, I have been coaching my cousin for his first marathon and he ran his first half this weekend. Despite the crazy weather in Staten Island and being sick, he rocked it out there with a great time! I’m so excited for him to tackle NYC in a couple of weeks. And a BIG congratulations to everyone who raced this weekend – Staten Island Half, RnR Brooklyn Half, Twin Cities Marathon, Long Beach Marathon, Chicago Marathon and I’m sure a ton more that I am missing.