We Run NYC 2013: #Nike Event

How on earth do I keep getting into these amazing events? TWITTER! I follow +Nike NYC on Twitter, and they are fantastic at getting the word out about the cool stuff Nike has in store for the city this summer. Basically, the theme is "Your Fuel Band is Your Ticket", so get a Fuel Band if you're in NYC!  Jen also posted how to save on fitness classes, check out her post for tips on how to get yourself in position to try fitness classes for free or low cost!

 Here are the directions to a Nike good time, fitness style!

This event was a Run + NTC! We met at Nike Town on 5th Avenue and were told to sign in, get a shirt, check our bags and be ready to run! There were well over a hundred fifty people crammed into a small area of the store, but the staff was so upbeat and positive it didn't matter.

Life is a sport. Make it count.

We ran to just inside the park and enjoyed a brief NTC workout. It was fun, definitely not as tough as the Monday night workouts...but we were adding a run to this workout! I was glad to feel faster doing moves that just three weeks ago were dreadful for me. For example, I loathe high knees and was doing them double time yesterday despite battling a cold!

 Go Lucy (Left)! She's an awesome pacer for Nike! Check her out on Twitter.

After the workout we ran a four mile route through Central Park then down 5th Avenue. I ran at an easy pace due to the aforementioned cold that I've been slowly battling since last Friday. Sheesh. It was great to spend time with Mrs. Slafter and Ms. Bailey running the streets of New York. As our shirts said, We Run NYC!

Our run ended at the Flatiron Nike Running Store. They transferred our bags, had beer and water ready to be consumed, and a food truck to feed us! Nike, you are my Sole Mate. The line for food was really long so we went out later to Press for some incredible wraps. No pictures because  we were all so hungry we inhaled our food, but if you need a casual spot to grab a bite, this IS the place to do it!

I found some love to run, and some run to love! Mr. Miller made it as well. It is so much fun to go to workouts with friends,  but I really love when he and I can do it together!!!

Who wore it best?! Matching spouses.

How about you? Will you be at the NTC workout this Monday? Have you joined a group run lately? Do you follow a lot of fitness groups on Twitter? TELL ME ABOUT IT!

It's finally SUMMER!

School is over! As usual, the last week and a half before the school year ends is especially hectic and busy. In addition to the school insanity, I also found myself doing some really fun things to celebrate the Solstice arriving! 

We visited Connecticut! #CTforlife was amazing. We had an incredible weekend filled with sun, swimming, bonfires, hiking, and RELAXATION. Here are some of the highlights:

Best friends. It took a few years but now they are fairly tolerant of one another ;-)

We found an old bee hive while hiking! Or it was a growth on the tree. Either way, I was scared. 

 The hike was really well organized, but the waterfall was at the beginning! A nice way to begin and end a 4 mile hike. 

We've also been working out! We went back to Nike Training Club this week, and it was awesome! This week there was a DJ spinning and it was a great music selection.

Astoria had their fireworks! For some reason Astoria always does their fireworks early. It was tons of fun with some great people from our church.

School ended! I went to celebrate with some friends at Studio Square. They know how to treat teachers right!

 Some of my coworkers! We are very happy.

Summer school has started. Now, it may seem strange that I'm celebrating summer school, but I really do enjoy teaching it! I work four days a week, and half a day at that. There are smaller class sizes and more freedom with what we teach...hence my triathlete theme for the summer! We're going to learn all about the sport and log our exercise every day. I'm pretty excited to see how this turns out!

Swim bike run...these are the names of each table!

This summer is going to be great. It's already off to an amazing start, and I can't wait to let the good times roll!

How about you? Do you have summer Fridays? Have you been enjoying any outdoor fun? Do you know of any triathlon books for kids? TELL ME ABOUT IT!

LIC FLEA: The place to be

This past weekend, I had the PLEASURE of visiting LIC Flea. LIC Flea, similar to Brooklyn Flea, is a local market offering AMAZING food and wares vendors. We ventured in and found short lines, fabulous people, and items for purchase!

We started with the FOOD! We were starving when we arrived, and we were NOT disappointed. 

Top-Bottom Left to Right: Thai Lemon Grass Chicken Salad, Truffle Bianca Pizza, Sticky Bun Tacos, Chocolate Frosted Donut. AKA the best. food. EVER.

There were plenty of non-food vendors! I enjoyed seeing the diversity of the vendors, there were some creative wares to enjoy!

Top to Bottom Left to Right: Legos bowties, Golden Girls tote bags, Fix Your Face sunnies and art galore.

Tired of the Flea? Thinking you've had enough of the walking and eat? If you have the time, check out Singlecut Brewery. It has everything; flights, cheap pints and live music on the weekends! 

Don't worry, be happy, try out a bike or a brew!

 Verdict: If you're in the NYC area, check out the LIC flea any Saturday or Sunday this summer! 

How about you? Have you checked out any fleas lately? Have you tried truffle anything lately? Do you watch Golden Girls reruns?! Tell me about it!

#Trainfree: A Bionic #NikeNYC Event!

It all started on Twitter. I saw a +nikenyc  tweet asking how I "train free", so I posted this:

I got invited to an event. Now, I wasn't sure what it entailed, but I was in. When I went to a Nike event back in February, I was impressed with every aspect of the event. When I received the email that I would be in for another event, I was PSYCHED. This event, themed "train free" to introduce a new women's Nike sneaker, would clearly become another memorable event. 

The Ferry on the East side was ready to take us to Brooklyn. There were drummers, music blasting, and tons of females EXCITED to train free!

 Mrs. Slafter, nurse student extraordinaire! 

A few friends won the Twitter contest as well!

We took a scenic ferry to Brooklyn. I literally fell in love with NYC all over again. Every moment of this event, I was smiling. This is NYC people. In the words of Elli Goulding, "Anything Could Happen...".  

I love bridges. They lead to anywhere. I love NYC. Here? Anything can happen.

We met at a loft in Brooklyn to get pumped and check our bags. We got to view the amazing new Nike cross training shoe (Which we were wearing), the Nike Free Bionic. I was in love with the rooftop access, views, and excitement in the air leading to our workout. I was on Team Kym, aka Team Nonstop, and I was totally into her energy and enthusiasm. 

We received our instructions, RAN to the ferry, and were ready to work out. The coolest part about being able to train free? The locations! All the different teams were strategically located in amazing spaces around the Dumbo/Williamsburg area. We had the pleasure of doing a Nike Training Club Flash Workout by the Brooklyn Bridge, which brought many a photographer from tourists and locals alike! We wanted to win that challenge! Oh, did I mention there was a Nike Fuel challenge? We all had our Fuel Bands on. The team with the most Fuel points won...so we were fake boxing and dancing with those Fuel bands pumping! 

We had to workout, HARD. Kym was no joke as a trainer; burpees, push-ups, dance moves, half mile sprints....yea. She paired her hardcore attitude with encouragement, upbeat music, and a NONSTOP spirit! We had to train free! I have to say, the Nike Bionic Frees impressed me. As an owner of regular Nike Frees, I found the Bionics to be MUCH more adaptable to the concrete environment. While they're not a running shoe, I was more comfortable running in them than the regular Nike Frees. 

It was HARD work to train free, but Kym made being Nonstop doable!

In the end, Team Nonstop didn't win. I'm okay with that, because I busted out more than was asked of me, and pushed myself as hard as I could. I know my team did the same. We ended the night at Beauty and Essex, where we enjoyed celebrating our fun with food, drinks, and free samples of beauty products. To the team who won the Beyonce tickets, congrats...and if anyone is looking for a +1, I'm your lady!!! 

Overall, #Nike put on another FANTASTIC event. I had so much fun, enjoyed their apparel and shoe products, and loved their amazing staff. If you're looking for a new cross training shoe, check out the Bionic as a lightweight option with optimal stability for a WOMAN.

A special thank you to Nike NYC who put on an amazing event. The professional looking photos are, in fact, professional photos from Nike. I was not endorsed for this post, and was glad to write about this fantastic event!

How about you? Do you train free? Are you anti cross training? Do you wear your running shoes for cross training (I used to...)? Tell me about it!

Nike Training Club: We Run #NTC

Last night I had the chance to go to an awesome workout! Nike NYC has been advertising a group workout  on Twitter, and I was really excited to check it out. The workout is part of Nike Training Club, and takes place on the rooftop at the flagship Nike Town store on 5th Avenue and 57th Street. Unfortunately, last Monday's torrential downpour monsoon prevented us from busting out some NTC move in the great outdoors, but this week brought beautifully perfect weather! So I laced up my Nike Frees and ran over the Queensboro Bridge get my body rocked.

We had no idea what we were in for!

Everything was seamless! We signed in, filled out consent forms, were offered amazing cross trainers to use during the workout for free, and were escorted up to the rooftop:

The workout was amazing! Will Arrufat was the trainer...he may look nice, but he is TOUGH on the training floor!

Via

Will led us through a series of movements and then repeated them once. We started out with low impact cardio, and each circuit thereafter grew more and more intense. The circuits included moves such as lunges, burpees, mountain climbers, push ups, high knees, and many, many more demanding moves! Will provided us with a "holding pattern", aka do jumping jacks while he showed us the next movement. We literally did not stop moving! We took three water breaks, I took a fourth because there was so much sweat in my eyes my make up was stinging them!!! We were continually challenged throughout this workout, and the group mentality became more and more apparent. People were yelling "We run!" and others would repeat "NTC!" The music selection was upbeat and consistently changing.

At the end, when we were ready to die, but we had a partner challenge. The rules were simple: find someone you don't know and line up. Partner A had to do mountain climbers while partner B did 20 burpees...then you switch. Oh. My. Gosh. SO HARD! After a grueling workout, we had to push it one more time. We were also encouraged to cheer on our partner, and it could be heard all over the workout. It was typical fitness community camaraderie, and I loved it!

Will would not let us stop!

When we were finished, we were EXHAUSTED! Today I am sore; a good sore, not an over did it sore. According to our Nike Fuel Bands, we burned over 350 calories in about 45 minutes of exercise. We got together for a sweaty group photo, glad to be done but excited for next week's workout!

Sun's out guns out!

Verdict: CHECK OUT THIS NIKE TRAINING CLUB! It meets Monday nights from 6:30-7:30, totally free, and a challenging total body workout!

A special thank you to everyone at Nike Town who made this an awesome fitness class, and provided me with many of the pictures for this post!...I was busy getting my sweat on ;-)

How about you? Will I see you next Monday? Do you enjoy working out in big groups? Are a burpee lover or hater? TELL ME ABOUT IT!

Happy National Running Day!

I had a lovely 5am wake up call this morning! My end of the year staff party is tonight, so I had no other time to celebrate the national day of the sport I love! I ran 3 very slow miles because I had a really hard time waking up...I love morning running but I have to get used to it again? 

There are some great ways to celebrate National Running Day! Dorothy posted about some really great giveaways and deals, be sure to check it out! Plus, rumor has it she's hosting a t-shirt giveaway today...

How about you? Did you, or are you planning to, run today? Did you tag IMArunner on Twitter? Do you think it's silly to have a national running day? TELL ME ABOUT IT!

Knowing when to throw in the towel

I heard this saying when I was younger, not sure who to credit with it, but I loved it:

"You can either throw in the towel, 

or use it to wipe the sweat off your face."

Try quitting after having THAT lodged in your brain for 15 years! During training cycles, I find myself very committed. I'll wake up extra early, I'll carve out the time, and no matter how tough the run is, I'll do my best to finish it. This is ESPECIALLY true during my long runs in the past. No matter what has happened (Including a swollen infected ingrown toenail during a 20 mile run), I have logged my miles as my plan dictated. 

There are times where you can wipe the sweat off your face. During last year's training cycle, I ran 18 miles after an intense workout. I was pumped to do it, pumped to see what my body could do, pumped to get close to 20 miles! However, the results were rough: very slow, very tired, and some serious chaffing wounds from the heat and humidity. I didn't throw in the towel then, and I believe I made the right decision.

The question is: when is it time to give up and start again another day? This is a hard lesson to learn. I read a great post about Running Mistakes, and I've definitely made a few of them. Sunday could have been one of those days. NYC went from a high of 56 degrees one Saturday to a high of 92 the following Saturday. HELLO heat advisory! Heat and I don't mix well to begin with, but I wanted to run 5 miles. Many things happened which resulted in me starting my run around 8am, much later than I had hoped. I kept a decent pace, bathed in a yard sprinkler, and was ready to give up...then I saw my landlord! She's an amazing runner and it's taken us 4 years for our running schedules to collide and "run" into each other!

Two overheated yet happy runners. 

I got the voice of reason from my NYC mom. My landlord told me, "Listen, you're not winning any races today, it's hot. Give yourself a break." And you know what? I did. I ran home and tapped out at 4 miles. I was SO exhausted after a measly 4 miles, I almost started beating myself  up. Instead, I got an iced coffee, which covers over a multitude of hurts.

Iced red eye: Good for mind, body and soul.

So, when is the right time to throw in the towel? Here is a list of what I think:
- Feeling sick
- Feeling dizzy
- Lack of fuel
- Overheating/frostbite
- When you're in danger of tripping or bonking
- Dangerous weather

However, there are times we need to use that towel to wipe of our sweat! Keep going if...
- You're discouraged: YOU CAN DO IT
- You're tired: YOU CAN DO IT
- You're stressed: YOU CAN DO IT
- You're not meeting your time goal: KEEP GOING ANYWAY!

I think the difference is what is physically challenging versus what is mentally challenging. Knowing the difference comes with maturing as a runner. I believe I made the right choice Sunday. I have not beat myself up about missing a mile on a measly 5 mile "long" run, nor have I regretted stopping. Know thy self. Know what you can handle safely, and what you can't. SAFELY is the key word!

How about you? Are you always determined to meet your plan? Do you feel like you've matured as a runner? Do you enjoy running in the heat? (If you do, I envy you...) TELL ME ABOUT IT!