A 2.5 Mile Run and a Pumped Up Playlist

Good morning! Can you believe that there are only three days until Christmas? Where does the time go?! It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating last Christmas and making resolutions for 2009.

Yesterday's training run called for a quick 2.5 miles. Since I'm not a morning runner and it gets dark at oh, 4:15 PM, this meant running around the track at the local Y. I suppose I could have gone on the treadmill but I try to avoid them unless there is no other option. 2.5 miles on the track is approximately 23 laps, as 9.1 laps around = 1 mile. Although it gets somewhat repetitive, the track loops around the aerobics studio. Yesterday I was entertained by the kickboxing class. Instead of the normal two blocks on their steps, the instructor apparently amped it up a notch, since the attendees were stepping onto platforms that were about 8 blocks high. It looked intense and made me happy that I was running.

The run was uneventful aside from the beginning: when my right foot first struck down, I felt a searing pain on the top of my right foot. This has happened only once before, and it kind of freaks me out. It goes away after a few steps, but it's something that I'm going to keep an eye on.

Yesterday's workout totals:

2.5 mi run at ~ 25 minutes
4 sets of 10 pushups
4 boat pose holds

A crucial element of getting through indoor (read: boring) runs is a great playlist. I have a fairly eclectic taste in music inasmuch as I like pretty much anything. Well, except for classic rock (sorry dad). I could never get into it. Anyway, I look for songs to keep me motivated and entertained during the run. Sometimes I think my fellow gymgoers thing I'm a crazy person, since I love some of the songs so much that I can't help but mouth along (silently- no one needs to hear my frightening singing voice- let's just say I was cut from chorus in grade school when they didn't make cuts) when my favorites come on.

My current quick run list includes:

• Little of Your Time, Maroon 5


• B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad), Outkast


• Let's Get It Started, Black Eyed Peas


• 'Til I Collapse, Eminem
  
• Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying From You, Jay-Z & Linkin Park


• Pump It, Black Eyed Peas


• Know Your Enemy, Green Day


• Viva La Vida (Live Version), Coldplay


• Can't Stop, Maroon 5


• Empire State of Mind, Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys

I compiled this list when I ran my first 5k back in September (aside from the new addition of Empire State of Mind- I don't think it was out yet) and I still am not sick of it. My absolute favorite on the list may be Viva la Vida (live). I am a huge coldplay fan after seeing them in concert this past fall (for free! but that's a story for another post) and the live version has the crowd cheering and really puts a kick in my step.

What songs are on your go-to playlist?

Today my training schedule calls for a vinyasa flow yoga class, which I am attending at my yoga studio with my friend Kelle. It's her first time checking it out. I've been going to the studio for about six weeks now and it has really grown on me.

Because no post is complete without pictures, here are a few of my favorite holiday pics:

Me, Kristin, Kelle and Jenn at the Roosevelt in NYC, Christmastime 2008 Bailey in front of the fireplace

Happy Tuesday!

What I'm Wearing- Monday

Happy Monday! My commute was joyous today (no traffic on 87, what!). I'm assuming it's because lots of lucky peeps took off the days leading up to Christmas. Whatever the reason, I'll take it.

Today is the first day of winter, aka the shortest day of the year and my dad's birthday! Happy Birthday dad :) From here on out the days get longer, which to me is fantastic. It is depressing to leave work at 5 pm to pitch blackness. More importantly, it means I can resume running outside during the week again! I applaud those of you that can wake up before work to run outside during the daylight hours. I wish I could be that hardcore! Alas, I'm not, so until the daylight extends its hours to 6:30 pm, it's the YMCA track for me. Which gets pretty boring but it gets the job done.

Anyway, what I'm wearing today... my office is business professional, which I've interpreted to mean that cardigans can count as jackets. I have a LOT of suits (at least 15 I think) but wearing them day in day out gets super boring. Today's 'fit:

Pinkish cardigan: J Crew Factory Store

Black tulip skirt (with pockets!): Banana

Black tights: Apt. 9 (Kohl's)

Berry colored patent leather Mary Jane heels: Aldo

I usually hate wearing skirts. Hate. I think it stems from the fact that I have fairly large birthmark on my leg that caused a lot of teasing when I was little. However, I love the birthmark now- I'm definitely unique! Anyway, this season I have discovered tights... I love them! They pull the outfit together and provide much needed warmth during the winters in upstate NY.

Do you wear skirts in the winter months? Or do you put it off until the weather is more forgiving?

Winter Running Survival Tips (or, look like a ninja while running)

Is it Sunday evening already? The weekends always fly by, even when there isn't much going on. Sadly, I was supposed to visit my friend Nicole in Long Island this weekend, but the alleged storm of the century brought those plans to a screeching halt.

Nicole and I on her wedding day, October 12, 2008

So, instead of a fun-filled weekend of pedicures, afternoon tea at the Garden City Hotel (to relive our afternoon tea we had in London) and other various activities, I ended up partaking in one of my new favorite things- running outside in the freezing cold. Okay that may be a tad sarcastic, but running outside in upstate New York (or any other frozen tundra) is surprisingly doable, so long as you have the right gear.

What do you need to run in the cold? I'm talking extreme cold (well, extreme to me) like 17 degrees but feels like 4 with the windchill cold. The most important thing that I've learned is the importance of layering. I start with a basic moisture wicking cold gear shirt from under armour.

As you want your core to remain warm, a puffy vest or other top layer will ensure that you don't freeze. I generally wear my lightweight northface jacket or a fleece. I like the northface jacket because if I get to hot on the run (which can happen), I can always adjust the zipper to get comfortable.

For my legs, I wear a pair of running tights, which I initially thought would do the job on their own. They certainly do in forty degree weather, but not so much when it's bone chilling cold out. To compensate, I layer on a pair of fleece lined running pants (under armour has a great pair that I just bought- expensive but super comfortable!)

I don't know about you, but my hands are always freezing. Gloves are essential. However, I'm learning that not just any glove will do. On my three mile run yesterday (temperature was a balmy 20 degrees plus windchill) I wore my under armour gloves (for the record, I have no affiliation with under armour, although I may as well buy some stock in their company) that have a sort of moisture wicking fabric and grabby material (technical term) on the fingers, which I like because it allows me to change the music on my iTouch. However, my hands were NUMB at the end of my run yesterday. As in, I tried to sit on them to warm them up and could not feel them numb. So, it looks like I may have to invest in a pair of fleece thinsulate gloves.

Of course, you can't forget your head. My saving grace for these cold weather runs has been my cold gear hood, which can be worn a variety of ways. For the true ninja look, you can go all out and wear the hood over your head and the mask portion over your mouth/nose. I start out wearing it kind of like a scarf (read: no hood) with the mask covering my nose, until I feel warm enough to take the mask over my face (usually about a half mile into the run). To keep my ears warm, I wear a fleece headband around my ears.

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With the above mentioned gear, running outside in the cold weather is definitely manageable. It is actually quite invigorating to run out in the cold weather. Plus, the strange looks you get from people driving by in their warm cars is priceless. It makes me feel hardcore, even though I am far from it. I would still balk at the idea of running in a blizzard, which my fiance has been known to do ;) For those of you that are hardcore enough to actually run in/on the snow, I've heard that yaktraks are great for that.

Lastly, make sure that you stay hydrated while cold weather running. Even though it is cold, your body is still working hard and you still sweat!

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In other news, today marks day one of my training for the Virginia is for Lovers 14k! My schedule called for crosstraining, so I did 35 minutes on the elliptical machine. I will close out the evening by doing yoga for runners. Have a great evening!

Cutest water bottle EVER

So... I'm still drinking out of my Sigg water bottle that apparently has BPA infested lining (any Sigg water bottles purchased prior to September 2008 are susceptible I believe... see info here). If you have a Sigg water bottle and are unsure as to whether or not it is affected, the non-BPA lining is a sort of creamy yellow color, whereas the old BPA lining is copper. Mine is copper so unfortunately, the Sigg got to go. Although I didn't want to purchase another Sigg (I was ready to go Kleen Kanteen... BPA free all along and NOT misrepresentative about it) I saw this adorable water bottle on the lululemon website. Behold:

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I saw the water bottle in Fitness Magazine and fell in love. My dad told me to order it for Christmas so I'm getting the yellow I <3 running one! I can't wait! My co-workers will probably make fun of me for it but I don't care. It's so fun and happy!

So do you subscribe to the theory that water bottles with bpa are bad? Or are you more my grandmother used bpa products and is just fine, thankyouverymuch?

Back in Business

Well I definitely fell off of the blogging wagon for a while, not that anyone likely noticed, haha. Anyway, I spend a lot of time reading healthy living blogs and thinking about my new "lifestyle", so I'm going to give the blog the old college try and continue posting.

I'll have a lot to write about, since I am starting my training program for the Virginia is for Lovers 14K that is on February 14, 2010 (one day before our engagement anniversary!) I am super excited to run it and know that I can do it, as long as I don't run into any IT band issues!

I'm also spending New Year's in Virginia Beach with Brian and we are going to run the Hair of the Dog 5k on New Year's Day morning. We are crazy party animals I tell ya. Good times! I'm hoping that I can beat my previous 5k PR of 31:50.

I'll probably try to post some of my outfits of the day, since I have been trying to be more creative in my "business attire" wear.

And now, some miscellaneous pics of what I've been up to these past few months...

Crossings 5k Run, September 27 2009

Me, Shannon and Christina at Christina's 27th Birthday Celebration

Attended Bri's Promotion to Lieutenant

Christina (right) and I at Jingle Bell 5k... 10 degrees... brrr

Happy Friday everyone!

Oh the hijinks...

So I am midway through my month long season of extreme busy-ness. On Friday my apartment was all packed up and ready to go. Bri flew in Friday night (yay) and he drove the truck down while I picked up his mom, who was helping us finish the move. She brought her new pup, Josie, who loved the new bag that I brought her- she was so adorable in it!

While I was packing, I thought I set aside my cell phone charger separately to go with the suitcase I was taking to VB for the weekend. Alas, such was not the case. The 'rents had my car (with my car charger in it) for the weekend so basically I was SOL phone-wise. Before Bri and I began the trek south, I told him I was going to turn off my phone to save the juice and turn it back on when I was a half hour from his mom's to let her know I would be arriving shortly. Well, I did do just that, and was surprised to have 4 voicemails waiting for me- and even more surprised when I heard Bri's voice- he NEVER leaves voicemails. Long story short he never saw my car pass him when we were going through the toll booths so he thought I was dead in a ditch somewhere. His phone died and the charger in the moving truck wasn't working, so he was stopping at every rest stop along the way and calling his mother from a pay phone to see if I had checked in yet. I felt so guilty that I was driving along happily, oblivious to his stress.

Anyway, the move went well and all of my stuff is down there... my apartment is officially no more, and bri actually has a couch to sit on! We didn't have time to show Josie the beach, but she is so low to the ground and furry that it is probably for the best.

Fast forward to this morning. I had another early drive from PA into work (4 hours), so with summer hours now in effect at work I had to leave at 430 to get in on time. Last night I thought it was a good idea to stay up until 11 looking at baby pictures of bri (omg he was seriously the cutest child EVER), but this morning, not so much. I again had to stop at a rest stop to "rest" for 20 minutes. At the end of the "rest" I noticed that two security cameras were trained on my car- sweet. I then proceeded to attempt to get gas, failing the first few times as I input the wrong zip code for the CC reader (guess the bank hasn't changed my address over yet) and again when I tried to use to diesel pump for oh yeah, regular gas. BRILLIANT I tell ya.

By that point in the drive I was feeling pretty moronic. However, the cherry on top was the last stop of the trip. I had to go to the BR so I pulled off, noticing there was a tour bus. Trying to hurry to beat the crowd, I automatically veered off into the bathroom on the right. Which, by the way, was full of urinals that were occupied by males. I hightailed it out of there so fast that women going into the proper restroom started laughing at me. At that point I was ready to raise the white flag and surrender to my bed. Seriously, I have never pulled such dumb moves!

Moral of the story- Katie cannot function on less than 6 hours of sleep. bummer.

Color Scheme Blues

After we got engaged and I began envisioning our wedding, I immediately settled on midnight navy with white and an accent color that would "pop" (dark pink). I've always been very decisive, so really I just had to confirm it with Bri and that was that.

Until I saw this beautiful inspiration board on the knot. Champagne, gold and light rose pink. Stunning! Not too girly pink, just elegant. The board, coupled with the fact that Bri will be wearing his dress blues, led me to change my mind as to the whole color scheme. Our venue is very classic and warm so the new scheme would suit it perfectly. I am still kind of iffy about it though... the end of March (especially in Upstate NY) is hard... it's "officially" spring but, let's face it, it's going to be freezing out and snow will likely still be on the ground- no pretty pictures in the park for us! The new palette seems more spring-like and fresh.

Then I got to thinking about champagne dresses. What if it washes the some of the girls out? My stepmom immediately voiced her concerns that the BM dresses would take away from my white dress (which I disagree with, but whatevs). So now I am flip flopping between the champagne and the unknown. I'm going with my MOH to look at dresses soon and hopefully I will just fall in love with something! One of my BMs forwarded me some dresses in brushed gold, which were really beautiful. Maybe that could work?

Who would of thought that all of this drama could arise over something as simple as the color scheme? I'm out of my element!