Be a creature of freshness

Last night, on Instagram, I read a blogger’s caption for her photo. It read “New year, same food.  My eating doesn't change just because it's January first.” I say, good for her. She’s probably one of those people who says “I’m thankful every day” on Thanksgiving. Call me a cliché’ (I’ve been called worse) but I love a clean slate; I'm not shy about my glee when goal setting.  I’m not suggesting “whole new you” type aspirations.   I like the majority of myself; however, I am perpetually tweaking. If you’re feeling resolutiony, here’s how I’d channel your newfound motivation.

Be a creature of freshness

I can’t find the right, uplifting word that’s the opposite of habit. Habits and routines are great but monotony is not. Especially in the wellness realm, mixing it up is vital. Kale all day and night would make me find a new profession. What do you want to try in 2017? You can experiment anywhere. Maybe it’s a new form of self-care. I believe I’ve written about my adoration for infrared saunas but cryotherapy, acupuncture and magnesium baths are other options. Or, perhaps there’s a bucket list place you want to see this year. I have New Orleans, Hawaii, San Miguel de Allende (with my mom who is in her 70s and always seeking newness), Portugal and the Canadian Rockies planned or germinating. Do you want to acquire a new skill? Learn a language, try a certain type of cooking? Freshness can be anything but it’s key that it’s appealing to you versus something you feel you must do.

Trim the fat

When I was about to turn forty I had dinner with my friend Allyson. Allyson is a year older and told me 40 was when you “trim the fat”. She wasn’t referring to what bulges over my bra. She explained that certain people weren’t worth my time. Weeding out is good. We can also “trim” behaviors. I hate talking on the phone, especially for things that can be accomplished via email. This year, I’m going on record (I did that with hugging and people are now afraid to touch me- that’s fine). I’m not a phone person, I am going to add this to my voicemail. What do you want to trim?

Out yourself

New Year’s Eve, I was at dinner with my family. I asked if anyone had resolutions. Marc, my husband, and one of my sons were adamant about goals and resolutions being private. I understand that thinking. However, the very thing that makes going on record scary is why we should do it. We all like to succeed or win or don’t want to be shown up. So…here we go. My New Orleans trip? I’m running a half marathon. This race is not about getting a certain time. Signing up for this race got me back to running. Even in Vermont, when I wanted to be lazy, I got on that treadmill solely because of the race. I also want to put it out there that I’d like to fuse my interests in travel and nutrition (this is a joint goal with Carolyn). If you have any contacts or ideas, send them our way. And finally, I have a book idea. I may have said this before as there was a book two I was attempting, My agent says sometimes being unproductive is a sign it’s not the right project. I believe my new concept is.

Focus and fine-tune

It’s impossible to focus on everything that needs fixing. When I run more, I may read less and so goes the wellness juggle. This year I want to focus on home hydration (I am so much better at work), carving out writing time and starting a better strength routine (after the half).

I don't know if people are being more forthcoming or if many had a shitty 2016. Either way, I get that. For me, 2015 was the year of shit. This led to dusting myself off in 2016. I think that's why I feel shot out of a cannon this year. It feels extra special when the shit isn't too far in your rearview. If you're struggling, I hope 2017 is a step in the right direction. If you're ready to experiment, trim the fat and out yourself, let's do it together.

Are you pro or anti resolutions? What do you want to try this year? Anything you want to "trim"? Any goals you'd like to go public with (comment below)? 

Forget Juice Cleanses Eat Bagels Instead

Paleo mini bagel with wild salmon, kale and cashew cheese, seriously?

When it comes to nutrition and exercise, I am willing to try almost anything. Weird ingredients, provided they aren’t synthetic, don’t scare me. And I’m not against the somewhat-extreme experiment either. I believe in mixing things up but there are ways I prefer to “mix”.  I’ve done juice cleanses but they don’t work best for me. They’re generally more sugar than I’m used to and as Carolyn, often my partner in cleansing, says, “we like to chew”. I have enjoyed Pure Food and Wine “not justa juice cleanse” and The Squeeze’s version; I can eat like a vegan for a few days but I do feel my best with eggs and fish in my life. Enter Food Matters.

curry roasted chicken with southwestern slaw

I cook and can plan a daily menu but sometimes I need a break from thinking and cooking and eating out and cocktails and so this week it’s been all Food Matters for me.  I’ve written about Food Matters before. I call Tricia, FM founder, a nutrition magician. It’s not only that their food is gluten free and dairy free and organic but it’s creative. I find a few days of this helps me with the following:

No more nibbles

I’m pretty organized but the few nuts or olives or samples around the office find their way into my mouth. With FM I’m eating 9am, noon (when I can wait), 3pm, and then ideally dinner early thought two nights a week are later due to my office hours. I don’t look for extras.

Protein portions

I usually say most people don’t overeat on lean protein and it’s true. On client’s lists of trigger foods where nuts and chips and cheese and sweets live, wild salmon isn’t often on there. But it is for me, I cook extra protein and I’m a protein person. Resetting my brain to see a more petite portion is useful. You see, with our weight nothing is really “free”.

Drying out and Hydrating

I’ve mentioned this over the summer, I’m not someone who generally is out every night or drinking every night and I prefer it that way.  So this week has been “dry” but at the same time I am hydrating (I think in those moments I would usually open the fridge).

For more information on Food Matters, check out their website. Tell them we sent you (and they’ll be sure to keep things strict, ha).  And because everyone asked about the paleo bagels I posted, here is the recipe.

Are you a cleanse or food delivery person? What do you do when you try to tighten things up?

What I discovered I stink at

I just finished the glass of water in front of me. While that may not sound like a big deal, it’s unusual. I took a spin class this morning, had a green smoothie for breakfast and just had a kale salad “no croutons” for lunch. I mention these healthy checklist items only to show you I practice what I preach suggest. That is, except when it comes to water. This spring we launched our Foodstalking program. Anytime there is anything new at Foodtrainers we all test-drive it. So, Joanna stalked me daily. Each night I emailed over my food, exercise, supplements and water intake for the day. It became clear and I was not hitting the 80 ounces I suggest. And I wasn’t even close.

Yes, I like green juices and green tea and coconut water and COFFEE but when it comes to water, I suck. Or I should say I sucked because all it took was my stalker challenging me to improve my hydration and I did. Instead of taking my vitamins with a sip of water, I finished the whole cup. I brought my Bkr and Lifefactory bottles with me to workout and didn’t allow myself to check email or anything else until I finished them. I rediscovered my decades dormant chugging skills and took great pleasure using my fitbit app to track my water intake (you fill a person up with water, it’s very gratifying).

We soon discovered Carolyn was also lacking in the water department so we declared it “hydration nation” at Foodtrainers. I know it sounds dramatic but afternoon energy dips were history, workouts improved and appetites decreased. We are people who would score pretty well on a wellness exam and yet getting one piece of the puzzle in order made a huge difference.

And I expanded hydration nation overseas. I was just in Italy for my mother’s birthday. I had aloe water on my way to the airport, water or tea every time it was offered (I lost count) on our overnight flight and once there made sure I adhered to our one for one rule. That is I had one glass of either “frizzante” or “naturale” water for each glass of prosecco. If you’ve met my mother you know that means I hydrated well.

Are you at 80 ounces of water a day? What tricks do you use to encourage yourself to drink? Are you “frizzante” or “naturale”?

And if you want to be stalked email info@foodtrainers.net.

Tips to Go From Fruitless to Fruitful

That black stuff? Not for the next 5 days,   read on for grapefruit info.

Fruit is healthy and of course nutritious but sometimes it's difficult to get people excited over fruit. Carolyn and I were asked to speak about fruit at a breakfast at for Edible Arrangements at Sarabeth's restaurant. Edible Arrangements has new items called their “grab and go collection” at their stores nationwide. I hear clients complain about buying fruit only to watch it rot; so anything that removes a mental barrier deserves a vote in my book. Here were some of our fruity ideas.

What's in it for me?

You’re not alone; most of us are selfish.  And fruit is no exception. I talked recently about pineapple as a mood food and that the core may boost fertility. What about prickly pears helping with elevated blood sugar? Or grapefruit is one of the top fruits a research proven health glow (thanks Jess)? Yup, it’s one of the best edible “beauty tools” (see recipe below).

Be Your Own Sous Chef

You are not going to take a whole cantaloupe to the office. The day you food shop (which according to the Manhattan Diet is every day for New Yorkers) cut your fruit and put it in single-serve glass containers and slice up limes or lemons for water or teas. There are days my children are standing at the door waiting in the morning and others where they aren’t cooperating. Let your fruit “stand by the door and cooperate”. If fruit calls your name when you open the fridge it’s much better than the cheese.

We Do Judge a Fruit By its Cover

Presentation matters so be your own “fruit” stylist. Even if you don’t have arrangement making skills, skewer, make melon balls or use pretty containers. I love ceramic berry containers from Roost.  Include lobster forks in containers for eating fruit on the go.

Go, Go, Go

Thanks to Dr Oz and Oprah, we know nutritionists aren’t the only ones fixated on bowel movements. It’s important to everyone. Berries, kiwi, pears and avocados are your pooping personal assistants.

Fun Fruitensils

I mentioned the melon baller but how about a grapefruit knife or pineapple corer? Nothing like a new gadget to get you “in the mood”.

8 Glasses Isn’t Easy

While I don’t suggest reaching your water goal via fruit alone, watermelon, cucumbers (yes a fruit), oranges and apricots are water-packed fruits.

Doctor (your) Fruit

Trying to tame a sweet tooth? Hooked on Skinny Cows and trying to convince yourself they’re healthy? Make your own applesauce or baked apples, freeze banana slices (or try Yonanas), warm frozen wild blueberries (close your eyes and it’s berry pie) or our favorite broil grapefruit. 

• Preheat Broiler
• Halve a grapefruit and cut inside the perimeter separating the grapefruit from the peel
• Sprinkle with Coconut Palm Sugar (use approx 1 teaspoon) or brown sugar.
• I like to sprinkle with ground ginger but cinnamon or cardamom works too. 
• Place halves in baking dish or on cookie sheet close to broiler
• Broil 5 min until edge browns a little and sugar caramelizes.

And then try to tell me fruit isn't exciting.

Are you "fruitless" or fruitful? Why do you eat fruit? Any suggestions for making fruit exciting? 

Hamptons Marathon: The Best Laid Plans

So, I ran a marathon on Saturday. Compared to Chicago last year, there’s been very little mentioned here about this race and that was a conscious decision. I figured I would check in after the race, tell you all about my fun day and move on to other topics. We chose the Hamptons Marathon. It’s a small, local race that Runners World gave good reviews. I don’t like marathon training hanging over my head too far into the fall, so late September seemed perfect. Let’s just say my plan didn’t work that well and Saturday- well it was rough.

My training leading up to the race was pretty strong. I was running faster than I had in recent years and diligently tracking all my runs from my Garmin GPS watch in Training Peaks.  I ran a couple of half marathons this summer; one was strong, one more conservative (it was a very hot day). And though I was sidelined with bronchitis a couple weeks ago still felt ready to go. I started eyeing the forecast about a week ago and felt relieved that there didn’t seem to be a heat wave coming. Of course as we got closer rain seemed a good possibility but I was ok with that. What had started out as five people we knew running the race had dwindled to three. Friday, late in the day, my friend emailed she was out, a hurt knee and the weather didn’t help.

So it was just Marc and me. The boys would be staying with friends (very, very nice friends) and we drove out East Friday night. We had our usual pre-race sushi dinner and prepared for the next day. We pinned our numbers to our shirts, packed our shorts with Clif Shots and printed our pacing wristbands. I set the coffee maker for the next morning and of course brought our Le Pain Quotidian coffee from home. I am a big believer in race rituals and am a planner by nature; this too would work against me.

We woke up at 5AM Saturday, my father in law said “I think you got lucky, it’s not raining.” I had my E3 Live, followed by coffee and Purely Elizabeth Granola with fruit. I put some Vega Performance optimizer in a bottle to have in the hour before the race. We drove to the start, found parking close by and felt that nice race day buzz. 

We had plenty of time and a full row of empty and clean Porto potties. I decided to take advantage of this and laughed when a Lululemon bag with the words “Breathe Deeply” had been discarded on the floor of the Porto potty, I decided not to comply.

We lined up at the starting area. Instead of a motivating welcome speech the man counting down said these ominous words “this is not a flat course, it’s very hilly out there” and then we were off. We were running alongside half marathoners and some doing a 5K so it was important not to get caught up and go out too fast. After a bunch of marathons, I knew slow was better than fast and continued to consult my watch and pace accordingly. I distracted myself looking at the runners around me. There was the woman in teal who moved her arms as though she were swimming freestyle. There was also the shirtless man with a hairy back and Vibrams. I briefly wondered where he placed his running number without a shirt.  I also noticed it was very, very humid. It felt like you were running through glue and I just didn’t feel energetic. 

We were on pace through 5 miles and at about mile 6 my hypersensitive Garmin watch, probably malfunctioning from the humidity/mist, stopped. Part of me freaked while the trying-to -be-sane part of me realized I’d have the race clocks and with my pacing band could gauge my speed. The only thing was at 6 miles the full marathon split from the half marathon course and so it seemed did all of the race’s efforts. The next clock would be mile 13 (it said 2:70, 2 hours 70 minutes? It was broken).

Trying to regroup, I tried to use the fluid stations as markers but there were times when these were 2 miles or more apart. Some had Gatorade, some didn’t, and some didn’t even have people manning them. Marathons are very mental and looking back for someone so routinized (ok anal) all of the changes didn’t go over well. By mile 15, I was wiped out. I felt how I did last year in the final miles of Chicago. I had never experienced this so early in the race. There were really no spectators and with the hills I was warned about looming for as far as I could see, I made the decision to drop out. I reasoned that it wasn’t my day and that was fine. I planned to find a police car at the next water station and pack it in. Even my dropout plan backfired when at the next water stop there were no police cars or anyone to drop out with. I had one Clif shot left in my pocket and figured I may as well see if some “triple espresso” would do the trick. I looked ahead of me and it didn’t help that everyone was walking. I elected to continue and figured worst case I’d have a 10-mile walk. Instead, I used my music and told myself I couldn’t stop until a song was over. As I ran for the duration of my son’s favorite song (Paycheck), I passed hairy back. As miserable as I was, I laughed a little

Soon I was at mile 20, I was scared to look at the clock. With my walking breaks and fatigue, I thought for sure it would be beyond horrible. It said 3:18, I was flummoxed.  I was only a few minutes slow. In a typical race, I’d dig down deep and finish strong only I was so exhausted that wasn’t going to happen. There was no euphoria, there was no strategy remaining except to finish. At the 26-mile mark I summoned the last remaining energy and ran it in. Marc was there. Though it was humid and he didn’t feel he could push it like he wanted to, the lack of clocks or water didn’t affect him. He didn’t really have a race plan and it worked out well. As for me, while disappointing this crappy race was also informative and will in no way diminish my planning tendencies. In fact, one day later I realize how lucky I was to have participated and will use what I learned in planning future races.

Are you someone who plans or wings it?  What’s your next fitness goal or challenge?

Do you think being goal-oriented can have its disadvantages? 

How much water do you need?

On Monday I taped a segment with Dr Max Gomez, from CBS, on water. Two Foodtrainers’ clients participated. One is a triathlete who talked about nutrition for performance. The other a lawyer and frequent traveler talked about changes she’s seen from improved hydration. Dr Max’s first, semi-leading question for me was “isn’t it simple, don’t we just drink when we’re thirsty”? It would’ve been a very short interview if I said “yes” but I didn’t. It’s not that simple and when we’re thirsty we’re already mildly dehydrated.  Whether you’re prone to crankiness or looking to lose a few pounds (or both) here are some hydration questions and answers I often hear.

Do we really need 8 glasses of water a day?

We do not; we actually need more than that. The National Academy of Sciences determined women are generally adequately hydrated after consuming 2.7 liters and men 3.7 liters of total water a day. Total water includes water from food and beverages. If you remove water from food it’s still a little over 2 liters (8 cups) for women and over 3 liters (12 cups) for men…if you are sedentary (workout water not included).

The silver lining? The Nat. Academy report concluded that caffeinated beverages can count. The diuretic effect of caffeine is transient. Score one for coffee.

*Drink 70-100 ounces of water, seltzer, herbal water, herbal tea or hint water. 8-16 ounces of your water can be caffeinated.

Can hydration help me lose weight?

A few studies, in the journal Nature and others, have found that drinking water (2 cups) before a meal reduced the number of calories consumed at that meal (75 fewer calories).  Another study found increased metabolic rate after participants consumed an additional 6 cups of water a day.  This study, in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, reported that the increase in metabolism was based on additional energy needed to warm the water to the body’s temperature. Finally, we often mistake hunger for thirst and can eat when a glass of water would suffice. Rethinking our water intake and timing can in fact help your weight (and certainly can’t hurt).

How do you know if you are dehydrated?

For the warning signs for dehydration there are three D’s and two C’s:

Dark Urine- monitoring your urine is the best way to assess your hydration. Urine should be pale, like pale lemonade, and plentiful.  It should not look like concentrated chicken broth; if it’s dark yellow drink a couple cups of water.

Dizziness- if you’re at your desk and stand and feel a little woozy you may be dehydrated. Perhaps you had a few too many the night before or simply had been working and not hydrating, either way see it as a sign.

Dry Skin- dry environments such as offices or airplanes can take a toll of your skin. Dry lips, dry mouth and circles under your eyes can tell you about your hydration.

Constipation- when liquid is decreased stool frequency and volume decreases along with it. You body needs water from your intestines to pass stool. With insufficient water stool is hard, dry and difficult to pass.

Crankiness- the second “C” is for cranky. It may not be your job that’s making you stressed; it may be your water or realistically a combination of the 2.  If you are chronically dehydrated you may not realize the effect insufficient water has on your mood.

Despite the fact that I talk about hydration every day, there were a few tidbits I hadn’t heard and hopefully some that were new to you as well.
Are you a good hydrator or do you have any of the warning signs of dehydration? How much water would you say you drink in a day? Any tips for increasing your intake?

Potty Talk Part Deux

It’s Labor Day weekend. I figure most of you are away or en route to various places and perhaps will miss this post. I’m counting on that because for the final of 3 travel-related commentaries, I am returning to a subject I touched on in April. I think it’s time for some more Potty Talk . Travel involves change, a break from normal routines and this often results in changes in bathroom routines as well. If that’s not the case for you, if you’re bowel movements are the same whether you’re in Manhattan or Madras, pat yourself on the back (side) you don’t need to read any more. For the rest of us, we tend to fall into one of 2 travel camps, I’m going to call them “Hard Rock” and “Loosey Goosey.”


It’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about me (as if from Facebook, Twitter and this blog there’s anything hidden) but I am in the Hard Rock camp. In college I was on Semester at Sea. I returned to the ship after an excursion, only to find my roommate curled up in bed. I asked her what was wrong and she moaned “Delhi Belly” and then sprinted to the bathroom. Not me, I had traversed India by train, had eaten curry from places with questionable sanitation, even ate fruit I didn’t peel myself and nothing, nada if you know what I mean. And in Mexico, the first trip with my then boyfriend (now husband), Marc had to go into a pharmacy and with no Spanish explain my condition. It seems clenching all your muscles and pointing to your stomach is universal.

The thing about bowel movements is that although, to some extent, we all have them. Unless we’re truly sick or sidelined, once they occur we move on with our day. I gave a talk to some soon-to-be marathoners Wednesday night and someone brought up the fear of not having proper time to relieve herself  before the race. Once this topic was mentioned everyone added their potty stories and strangely seemed to enjoy the conversation. We don’t do this often. Despite the fact that in my work day I do talk bathroom and bowels, I don’t spend too much time dwelling on my own doody. I certainly didn’t when I was packing for France. Yet this was like almost every other trip and though our hotel bathroom had a great view of the Eiffel tower, I didn’t go in it all that much.

Upon returning home, I was on a mission. For someone who does exercise when away and eats similarly, I had to know what was “behind” these changes. This is what I came up with:

• Nervousness associated with flying or changing destinations can lead to diarrhea or constipation.

• Changes in normal diet and routine are disrupted (food available at airports and on planes can cause diarrhea or constipation).

• Early flights or early wake ups lead to GI disruption.

• Increasing or decreasing coffee consumption can affect bowels.

• Digestion slows in-flight due to change in altitude and air pressure.

• Changes in blood pressure in-flight; restricts blood flow (why we see our hands and feet swell).

• Altitude causes dehydration in flight; consuming alcohol pre or during flight and high sodium airport and airline foods worsens this; can lead to diarrhea or constipation.

I then consulted Foodtrainers’ resident medical expert, Dr O. I  apologized for bothering an ER doc with my potty talk and she said this. “One of the main reasons people get backed up during long travel is because of immobility and dehydration. I tell all the patients who come to the ER with constipation (yes, people come to the ER with that complaint) to exercise and drink lots of water. At higher altitudes you have less oxygen in your blood so the intestines actually get less oxygen which slows them down.”

When I look at this list and Dr O’s comments I am a little confused. Though these are all valid points, I am not someone who eats airport or airline food if at all possible. I exercise before and during trips, I ran 10 miles the morning we left for France (marathon training not compulsive). I also drink water during travel. Yet, in reviewing these points some are inevitable. There are dietary changes, even with healthy eating, and that’s part of the fun of travel. Circadian rhythms are thrown off; your body seems to get confused even if you think you adjust quickly. I had never considered the lingering effects of high altitude and less blood flow to the intestines…hmn. I think I have some answers. Rather than winging it and living in denial of my habits, next time my secret weapons will go in the suitcase. Not to worry security people, my weapons are fibrous.
So don’t be shy, are you in either camp? Or does it vary for you? Any fun potty stories? Do you think, perhaps, the more routinized you are on a daily basis the more sensitive your body is to change?

Questionable in Queens

If you live on the East coast,  you recall this past Saturday’s weather. If you do not, chances are you heard about it. When a day stands out weather-wise in the midst of a summer long heat wave it has to be pretty hot. Saturday was also the day of the Queens half marathon. Last week, I started to hear rumblings of a super hot day on Saturday but didn’t think much about it. I had signed up for the ½, it was on my rigid running schedule, I was excited about it and wasn’t about to cancel because it was going to be hot. A couple of my running friends dropped out but I wasn’t budging. My running coach, who to give you an indication of his mental stability was in Napa doing a ½ ironman in similar weather the week prior, said I should give it a try. He told me if the Kenyans cancelled their runs due to especially hot weather they would never run. As a New Yorker and not a Kenyan, I wasn’t entirely buying this logic but was set to run.

I made a playlist, packed my Honey Stinger drops, money and a Metro card and left the house a little before 6am Saturday morning. I tried to ignore that it was already steamy. Before you start to think I’m this tough and determined person please note I took a car service from Manhattan to Queens. Throughout the ride the radio repeatedly mentioned the weather, warning signs of heat stroke and many other things that helped calm me down (not!). In about 25 minutes we were in Flushing Meadows right near Citi Field and the site of the US Open. I paid the driver and followed a pack of runners toward the starting area. I then did what all runners do before a race and located the porto potties. I smiled to myself as looming over the line-up of green porto pots was the top of the exquisite Unisphere (pictured above). Little did I know that the scenery, though not the course, was mostly downhill from there.

I checked my small bag and headed to the corral, the lovely equine term used for the starting area. I stretched and set my watch (Garmin forerunner 405 with GPS in case you’re curious). As runners lined up it seemed like business as usual. There was no talk of the temperatures and at least a few thousand people. I was convinced all the “you’re crazy to run” talk was hogwash. And then Mary Wittenberg president of NYRRC said a few words into the microphone. I listened carefully for encouragement and heard “BE CAREFUL, IT’S DANGEROUS OUT THERE, THIS IS NOT THE DAY FOR PRS (PERSONAL RECORDS), THIS IS A DAY TO TAKE IT EASY.” So much for a pep talk. Minutes later the horn sounded and we were off.

After about 30 seconds I realized I was already sweating but then, as is the case with races, I settled into a groove and just ran. We exited the park and ran for a few miles down a Queens Avenue that couldn’t be less scenic. We passed bodegas and bagel shops and breathed a sigh of relief with each mile marker. I was feeling absolutely fine, used my GPS watch to make sure I didn’t go out to fast, and stuck to my race plan. I decided I would use my iPod at the 6 mile mark so for the first half of the race I was just looking around. There were heavy people and tiny people, couples running together and a girl whose shorts were definitely going to fall down at some point in the 13.1 miles. There was also a noticeable quiet. I didn’t hear the usual chatting that can sometimes be a nice distraction for a few miles. I am not one to chat but love to eavesdrop.

At about 5 miles there was a turn around and we literally retraced our steps down the same urban avenue. I said to myself that I was going to keep to pace I was at and at 10 miles, if I felt good, I’d pick up it up. I dutifully stopped at all fuel stations for water or Gatorade or simply to get hosed down. At 6 miles I received my musical reward. I enjoyed my motley mix ranging from Paul Simon to Rihanna, Michael Franti and Madonna. At the 8 mile mark I noticed I had been running alongside a fellow from the Van Cortland track club for some time. I hadn’t looked at him but knew we had been running similarly. When I caught a glimpse of his face I realize he was well over 70! By the 9 mile mark it seemed they were placing the water stations further apart. Of course they weren’t but I was starting to feel off. At 10 miles I had transitioned into the put one foot in front of another strategy. Runners around me were having a hard time, many walked, and a good number got sick on the sidelines. I had never witnessed anything like this.

At the final water stop I stood under the hose for a good 2 minutes, my time goal wasn’t going to happen; I just wanted to finish. I did finish, though it was without the usual final burst of energy I tend to have upon spotting the finish line. I walked to the subway still out of breath a good 10 minutes later but I was already happy with my decision. It was hard and I was exhausted but also proud of myself. I am not one to climb mountains or bungee jump and though active stick to my comfortable cocoon running and yoga. It’s not often that I really push it but I did in Queens and I would do it all over again.
When was the last time you pushed yourself physically? Have you contemplated signing up for any sort of a race? If you haven’t what holds you back? Why do you think some people like a physical challenge and others do not?