Category Archives: Fitness

Winning the Lottery

Yesterday, I got an email that I’d won the lottery.

And it wasn’t spam.

Nor was I winning money. I actually won a lottery that required me to pay money.

Still not spam.

I won the lottery for my hometown tri. 

I’m actually surprised that there’s even a lottery, but whatever.

I’m excited for a redemption tri, and I have some very specific goals in mind.

  • Don’t get a flat tire.
  • Place in the top 10 in my age group. (As it’s such a small field, I think this is possible.)
  • Run the 5-miler in less than 42 minutes.
  • Beat people I know. I’m not usually that competitive, and there’s usually a big, competitive field in most races I run in, but I’m pretty sure I can unleash some fierceness in my hometown. Thinking about this makes me wonder how much more competitive I’d be if I lived in a smaller town. I think I’d focus on one person I wanted to beat.
In semi-unrelated news, when I got home the other night, I had a sweet bag from New Balance waiting for me. They’re sponsoring our blogger team for Reach the Beach, and so they sent us a big bag of goodies.

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This bag officially puts me at half workout clothes in my dresser*. Below are the ones I’m most excited to try.

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I tried out these pants on a 6-miler with Ashley this morning and at 30/60/90 the other night, and I really like them. They stay put and are just as flattering in the midsection as my Wunder Unders. (Ashley and I also showed up in matching New Balance tops, which was only slightly awkward.)

(Gratuitous Central Park in the morning shot.)

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This is New Balance’s equivalent of a Garmin–I’m excited to see how it compares!

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I suspect I ended up with bright yellow ones because of my abnormally-big-feet-for-5’5″. (I’m a 10.5 in running shoes–I never grew into my feet.) I tried them this morning, too, and while I need to run in them more to really formulate an opinion–so far, so good. They were nice and cushion-y and nothing hurt in them.

Below are links to the products:

But because New Balance wants to hook you up, too, they’ve given me a coupon code to share with my readers. Use code NBRTB12766BGG from March 1 – March 10 to get 15% off any NB gear as well as free shipping.

*I’ll likely be doing giveaways when I move to get rid of stuff and share the love–some fitness related, some random stuff. I also have a few more scheduled giveaways coming up.

Making Habits

I’ve been at my new job for just over 90 days (I know this, because I am finally eligible for health insurance!), and I think I’m finally starting to settle into a workout routine.

Getting last-minute notice that I’d be running a half-marathon and then running (err, if you can call what I did running) it finally gave me the push I needed to get settled into my routine.

They say it takes 21 days (or 28, or 66) to form a habit. Either they’re wrong, or I’m slow.

Over the past two weeks, it’s like all the excuses I was making in the first few months at my job ceased to exist.

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And thank god.

Can’t wake up? Nope. (To be fair, Bailey was out at my parents’ last week and the week before, so I was able to go to the gym and go straight to work from there a few times without having to worry about coming back to walk him.)

Working too late? Nope. I’ve finally started listening to all that advice and making exercise a priority again, reminding myself how good it feels.

Last night, I’d planned to take 30/60/90. It started at 7:30. Even if I got stuck late at work, I told myself, I’d find a strength workout I could do and make myself go to the gym after work and do it.

Well, all afternoon, with a 7:30 class on my mental calendar, I was motivated to get things done so I could get out on time. And I did. Was the class fun? No, not really. Did I sweat profusely? Yup. Did I get some strength training out of the way? Yup.

I need to make this class a more regular fixture on my schedule. For non-New Yorkers/non-Equinox members, Kristi has a DVD, or you can download her workouts on the Fitness Class iPad app.

How long do you find it takes you to get used to a new habit/schedule?