Dare You To...

HEY WORLD!  For those still subscribed, thanks for sticking around! Am I back? Maybe!!  I've been thinking for a while how much I miss having this space to share the things I learn, try, know, and love, and the community that came with the healthy living blogosphere.

What inspired me back today?  I recently have begun running again after a long haitus, and a friend asked about my mini fanny-pack that so perfectly fits my phone and ID.  I told him it was a Spibelt, and for fun went to find the post here where I'd reviewed it, and realized it was still in draft! Never posted! From 2014! What a shame!

Then, another friend just this evening asked how my blog is doing - she wasn't sure if she'd been missing out on new posts.  Wellll I filled her in, but it was clear: The stars aligned, and it was time to post once (or many more times!) again.

So, here I am, to wish you all a happy July 5th :) and share (at last!!) about the small, light, inexpensive gadget that is my must…

Happy National Running Day!  Did you know that today was the day?  Fortunately, here in NYC the rain has stopped but cooled everything down.  Perfect for a run!  Dare you to hit the road with me.


Last year, I celebrated #NationalRunningDay by signing up for my first 10k!  That summer, I rocked my running goals and the 10k race.  However, it's been an uphill battle since then...  After another recent month sans run, I finally hit the road again last week.

First, on Memorial Day, I laced up in the morning before it was too hot. I hadn't been running in over a month--and even that was a lot of stop-and-go--I wanted to really kick back into gear!  I set my Nike+ app for a full 3.11 miles and told myself that I would run the whole thing. And I did!  I kept slow and steady and finished my 5k in about 33 minutes, and since then vowed that I'll get back to covering a 3-mile jog at least once per week for the summer. That's the plan!



Then, this past Saturday, I hit the road aga…

Last weekend, I participated in the Run 10 Feed 10 Women's Health/FEED Foundation 10k race!  I was super excited when I first signed up in June, but was concerned by the time September unfolded in a disastrous first few weeks that left me physically exhausted and achey.  Those stressors/fears/roadblocks were described in my Race Week Post.  Thus, my expectations were low, but I was still excited to be daring to do it.


3rd Annual Women's Health Run 10 Feed 10 Race NYC, West Side Highway, 7:00 am, 80 degrees, 6.2 miles.
VICTORY PREVIEW!
Here's how it went down:
My GOAL for this first 10k, as it was for my second 5k race, was to run the entire thing without stopping.
The farthest distance I'd done this for in the past was 5 miles (once), and even 6.2--a full 10k (but I was only semi-counting that, because I was forced to stop in place at the traffic signals in Summer Streets).  So running this type of distance wasn't quite yet easy for me, but it certainly seemed within…

Oh boy, I'm lucky I even remembered that it's race week.  It seems so long ago that I signed up, all giddy, for the Run 10 Feed 10 10k race that is now, somehow, this Sunday!!!  It seemed, in the glory days of summer, that I had so much time to train and prepare.  And, during the summer, I did run!

What I didn't account for, was how much the first two weeks of September would destroy me. 


Back to school = Back to work! With teaching, plusmoving, plus two weekend trips in a row, plus plus plus... I've had other things on my mind, and running has not been my #1 priority this past month.  First is my health (aka: if I'm not sleeping well, I don't wake up early to run), then my job, and then everything else, including running.  A month ago, I ran 6.2 miles steadily for the first time, but I haven't seen that distance since.  I've covered anywhere from 2 to 5 miles--not 6--and even those runs haven't been so great.  It's been rough!


Getting back to wor…