June Goals

It’s JUNE! I’m so excited. This is my last month of school (oh, summer vacation, see you soon), and it’s the last few weeks before marathon training officially starts up. Here are some goals I’m chasing down this month:

  • On the Run (and in the gym)
    • Build base back to 20-25 miles/week. This will help big time before starting up marathon training in July.
    • Kettlebell workout 6x this month. It’s an easy enough at-home workout that I can do after getting home from a runmute. I’ve just been too lazy to do it recently.
    • Hit the yoga – hard. I feel like I say this all the time, but I’m constantly amazed by how inflexible I am. Really. It becomes more and more important for me to be flexible, but it seems that every day I get a little less so. In June, I’ll commit to 6 yoga classes. I’d like to do it at home, but I need many modifications (and lots of encouragement).
    • Do a chin-up. I have the bar at home. And now I have the plan. I’m using this.
    • One dvd ab workout/week (I’m looking at you, Physique 57 Arms and Abs)
  • In the Kitchen
    • June = Salad month. M and I dubbed one week in May salad week and it was awesome. With so much good stuff going on at the farmer’s market and the CSA starting soon, this June I’ll be eating different salads 5days/week. I’ll let you know what different salads we come up with.

What are your goals for June? How will you keep yourself accountable and/or reward yourself?

How YOU Doin?

September is the busiest month for any teacher. Especially a teacher getting her bearings at a new school (that’s me). So now I’m comfortably (I think) back into some sort of a schedule. Here’s what I’ve been up to, in no particular order:

  1. I quit the marathon. Surprise! Haha, to be honest, I just wasn’t feeling it. As a result, I skimped on my training runs. I finally pulled the plug today. Maybe I’m just not into marathons. Maybe I still haven’t fallen back in love with running yet. Who knows. Either way, I can do it next year. Or the year after. Or never again. The choice is mine. (I quit last year too, after running – and loving it – in 2008).
  2. I’ve been working on getting flexy. I’ve talked about it (ahem, dreamed about it) for a long time. I’m working on hitting up more yoga classes, and just fitting yoga into my everyday life. Some stuff that’s been helping:
  3. Core Fusion classes. Love the Core Fusion. Really love the Core Fusion Cardio class. I bought a package a while back on RueLaLa. Still have a few classes left.
    • RueLaLa is a great group discount site. Every few months they have pretty good deals on Exhale Spa and Core Fusion packages.
    • Groupon is another spot where I get discount workout deals. I have a month at Crunch that I’ll probably start using in a few weeks. And just bought today’s deal at Prana yoga.
  4. Getting back into cooking and baking. I pretty much hate cooking and baking (and, well, everything) when it’s stinky hot out. Now that it’s fall, I’m back in the kitchen and couldn’t be happier.

So that’s it for me. I’ll be back soon. What have you been up to???

Gettin’ Bendy

The cold hard truth: I suck at yoga.

I know, that statement is not quite in keeping with the yoga work to your own ability, etc… but really. I’m terrible.

And that’s not discouraging to me. In fact, yoga plays hard to get, and it only makes me want it more. It’s like it’s this bendy club that I’m not a part of. But desperately want to be.

I’m pretty athletic and have always been able to pick up sports and be pretty decent at them from the get-go. Yoga is the thing that is a constant challenge. I mean, I can barely even touch my toes. A down-dog is even pushing it sometimes (I imagine I look more like I’m searching for a lost contact lens, than inner balance).

So that’s the September goal. One goal only. Do yoga.

Any style, studio or living room, ten minutes or two hours. I will do yoga. And of the 30 days of September, I’ll be yoga-fying more than half.

What about your September goals? Or, do you do yoga? Are you a yoga newbie or devotee?

Time for Me

I’m looking forward to this lovely Wednesday. I have a pretty relaxed schedule (excluding the busy one I have in work). Once 3pm comes, I have a few ‘me time’ events on the schedule.

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There’s the schedule on my Google calendar. School until 3, then wrapping a few things up at the library. A nice run is on the agenda followed by some Ashtanga. Pretty great, I know. After yoga, I’ll make some dinner and relax a bit. Even go to bed a bit earlier. Mmmm, it’s already shaping up to be pretty great!

Yoga & some inspiration in the kitchen

GREAT yoga class. I signed up for an unlimited new student pass for the week and will try to get there every day this week (or almost every day). I was really challenged, and it made me realized how much flexibilty I’ve lost (from the scant amount I had before) by not practicing or stretching more regularly. I’ve always stretched well after workouts, but otherwise it’s something I overlook. A bit more stretching to either begin or end my day would be really beneficial.

I have a bit of work to do this afternoon, and am debating whether or not to venture back out for a run. It’s reeeeeally windy/cold/rainy. My initial thought is no way in hell, but I know I’d feel pretty awesome afterwards… and I saw some runners out on my way to yoga… we shall see.

Lunch is a big ol mess. It’s a combo steel cut oats w/ pumpkin, vanilla Chobani yogurt, maple syrup, flax/hemp/chia blend, almond butter, semi-sweet cho

colate chips, and a honey crisp apple (not pictured) on the side. Mmmm.

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After spending two weeks without cable and internet, I really liked the opportunity to catch up on my podcasts (my faves are This American Life, and NPR’s Fresh Air). Now that I have tv, I find I’m still listening to the podcasts at home – especially in the kitchen when I’m cooking or cleaning.

This morning when I was getting breakfast together, I was listening to Friday’s Fresh Air podcast, which featured host Terry Gross interviewing the now-former editor of Gourmet magazine, Ruth Reichl. It was a fascinating interview (as Terry Gross does so well), and it talked a bit about her life as a foodie, an editor, a home cook, as well as food as politics and roles of women in the twentieth century – BIG interview, I know! Click here to listen on NPR.

TheĀ NYTimes has an interview with Ruth Reichl as well. I really like her beliefs about sustainability and viewing food as a means of connecting us to the earth.

I listen to podcasts and public radio… what do you watch/listen to when getting things done in the kitchen?

Connected!

Finally! After 2 weeks of chasing shoddy, unsecured wifi and listening to the radio for entertainment at home, I’m connected! Cable guy saved our little tech-dependent lives and now I’m back. I knew it was getting really bad when on my train ride to Philadelphia on Friday, I checked Twitter on my iPhone and was like, “Who’s balloon boy, and why is everyone talking about him?” Ha, seriously though, I had to look it up on CNN.

In the last few days I went home to see my newest niece (brother and sister-in-law just had number 4… I’m up to 3 nieces and 1 nephew). I hung out with my parents on Friday night, then had nieces and nephew time at the movies (by the by, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was actually pretty great). Home now, though, and getting a few things done in the cold, crappy rain. Mother Nature is slapping me in the face with reality… I was getting a bit too romantic with the I love fall in New York, it’s sooo beautiful. Friday was my wake-up call when I remembered, Oh right… it’s cold, rainy, and windy about 80% of the time from October to April here… Ah well, such is life.

Started off this morning with a little egg-y goodness for the husbo and me. I had one egg scrambled on whole wheat toast with a little sharp white cheddar and dabble of salsa. Husbo has the same, but two eggs fried. He’s been working around the clock and it was really nice to wake him up with coffee and breakfast all ready to go.

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I’m off to a Vinyasa class over at Bread and Yoga. It’s my first there – I’ll let you know how it is. Enjoy your lazy Sunday!

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Today’s Yogi tea wisdom:

Love is where compassion prevails and kindness rules.

Fit for a Queen…

My afternoon took a turn for the best as I found myself in a bubble bath eating ice cream, haha… but let me backtrack.

Hatha yoga class at Bread & Yoga was really really wonderful. It was extremely relaxing and restorative despite the fact the studio was packed to the gills. I will try to get to the morning Vinyasa tomorrow, but either way, I’ll keep going back even after this free weekend event.

After yoga (to which husbo accompanied me!), we realized that we hadn’t eaten since our muffins at the Farmer’s Market and were now totally famished. We decided to have an afternoon feast – more like an early dinner. I threw together some pasta shells with spinach, chickpeas, and Classico tomato basil sauce, and sauteed eggplant slices in garlic and olive oil. I snipped a little fresh parsley on top. It was perfecto.

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My next task was bubble bath. Since moving in to a place with an awesome bath tub, I decided that this must be a weekly ritual. I got the bubbles going and eased into the tub until my fingers got nice and pruney. I’m convinced that a bubble bath is really, really good for the soul. To make it even better, husbo came in to gift me with a little teacup of Ben & Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie ice cream (no pic – I was in the tub). Yes, I was eating ice cream in a bubble bath. I always think there’s something funny and purely decadent about having dessert after a midday meal, and this pretty much confirmed that.

So now, I’m going to take a little nap before heading out tonight. I find that if I’m supposed to stay out until midnight (or later) I definitely need a disco nap during the day.

So there you have it: yoga, feast, bubble bath and ice cream. Nap time for me. What do you do on the weekends to recharge your batteries?

Off and Running

So far so good on this drizzly, dreary Saturday in New York. My run in the park was lovely. Who wouldn’t want to run through paths like this?

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The nice run with husbo ended with some coffee and a trip to the Farmer’s Market, where I munched on my favorite Morning Glory muffin ever.

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At the Farmer’s Market I just picked up some pears, apples, celery, potatoes, and eggplant. I feel like making soup today (it’s that kinda day), and I think I’ll dig the Crock Pot out of it’s box to do so.

Next up, I’m heading to free yoga at Bread and Yoga. Any uptown New Yorkers or Bronx residents Bread and Yoga at 207th and Broadway is having a free yoga Open House weekend. Take advantage of it!

Farmer’s Market Shots…

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The Calm Before the Storm

Good Monday morning! I slept in an extra half hour today since I have off from work, then I got into my regular morning routine – including the usual breakfast of overnight pumpkin oats and yerba mate.

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It’s starting off as a nice, leisurely Monday but I know it won’t stay this way! On the agenda today:

  • Finish lesson planning, handouts, etc. for the rest of the week
  • Buy necessary packing materials
  • 10:30 brunch with friends
  • 12:30 Bikram class (it’s about 3 miles away – I’ll run home from class to get a complete workout in)
  • Packing, packing, packing

This is pretty much the last possible day that I can pack (severe procrastination has brought me to this point, ha).

I’m also trying to plan some upcoming races and events to jump-start my running motivation (which took a serious hit over the summer).

So Speaking of Stress…

Funny that I had just mentioned stress earlier… well, I had a leisurely morning and then strolled over to school to do a little more cleaning/decorating. I planned on staying only a few hours so I could enjoy the beautiful weather today.

Anyhow, I put two and two together and figured out a glaring (what must be) error in my schedule. Long story short, this error would be massive, and the more I thought about it, it may not be an error at all. It would change the course of my year – big time, and not in a good way. The proper people were not around to let me know the truth.

Needless to say, I was very distracted. Even though I only had fun things to do at school today, I was starting to get in a negative, worried mindset. Rather than litter my classroom with negative energy, I decided to leave for the day to physically remove myself from the environment. And the decorating was certainly a non-essential task for the day.

I have always been very good at handling high-stress situations. I can fairly quickly and easily mentally remove myself from the situation and rarely do stressful situations in my life manifest themselves to the outside world.

I think I’m a bit more affected because this situation is also very surprising. I know that I can make the best of any situation, and certainly will if this news is in fact correct, but today has tested my coping mechanisms.

Luckily, I had also planned on hitting the gym in the afternoon before a nice, long Bikram yoga sweat sesh. These will be super-cleansing for the mind and body.

I’m going to get zen and hit up Target (again) for some returns. Hasta Luego!