Awesome things are happening. Here's a brief list:
I got my welcome packet for the Chicago Marathon. Not gonna lie, I was kinda giddy. This thing is getting REAL.
Remember those resolutions I made? Well I'm actually moving forward with them. I practiced the piano, which was incredibly humbling. I've never been great at reading music, but I can't read a single note. Thank goodness for the internet! My credit card is this close to being paid off. About two more months and it should be done! I also had a meeting with my big boss today about officially becoming staff. I don't know if it will happen but I said EXACTLY what I wanted to say, and he agreed with me. I usually get nervous and don't say the right thing, so this was empowering!
One of my bestest best friends from middle school is making a surprise visit this weekend. I'm a little bit excited. Ok. A lot.
Did I mention my awesome Oscar party? There were themed snacks. My favorite: Miss Piggy in a blanket. Hey, the Muppets were nominated.
Next up in my marathon training prep is making an awesome workout playlist. This is very important. We can’t use headphones on our group runs, but I know there will be times when I run by myself or, heaven forbid, on the treadmill. Then the playlist becomes vital. The latest addition- “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson.
This song pretty much sounds like it was made for the gym. Every time I hear it I want to be conquering something. Running up a hill. Lifting something heavy. Crossing a finish line. Something generally awesome.
I’ve also planned the first fundraising event for Team Happy Hippo! In the month of April, come take donation classes at Bikram Yoga Harlem every Wednesday at 12:30 and Sunday at 4:30. All donations will go to the American Cancer Society via Team Happy Hippo of course. Classes are pay-what-you-want, but the suggested donation is $10. I’ll remind everyone later, but mark your calendars now! Come get sweaty with the Happy Hippos!
Next on my list is watching "Spirit of the Marathon." I would only recommend watching it if you want to be persuaded to run a marathon. It's very inspiring. I promise I'll start the running part...eventually...
How was your long weekend? I ate and drank too much, so I think it was a good one. Anywho, back to business.
I've been sort of in denial that this marathon thing is going to happen. But I've taken some steps towards reality. First off I bought another pilates package. I have to get this core in shape. It's kind of an important part of running.
Next I set up my fundraising pages. I'll keep everyone updated on my training progress here, but if you'd like to donate or check on the team's progress you can do directly to the page. I'll post it here from time to time as well, just to remind you :)
Check out Team Happy Hippo here! It's named after MiMi's dog. Her dog is the last dog on earth I think you would ever see willingly running anywhere (unless food was involved) and I couldn't think of a more amusing mascot for our team. I just think about her squishy face and I giggle. Hopefully she'll keep up our morale.
This is Betsy, aka the Hippo, doing her sexiest dog pose.
You can also visit my personal page here. Unfortunately that's as far as I got in terms of training for this marathon. I still have plenty of time. It's all about the baby steps, right?
Yesterday I got an amazing treat. Turns out my coworker won a free 80 minute massage at a luxury spa, but she didn't want it. She said she was too stressed. Not sure how that's even possible, but there you have it. So I scheduled my appointment and went in yesterday evening.
The massage was at the spa in the Mandarin Oriental, so everything had a sort of zen feel. You're treated to tea and a warm face cloth while you fill out some paper work. I got there early and headed straight for the steam room and the vitality pool to destress before the appointment. It was very luxurious, only I didn't know if I was going to be completely alone or not, and seeing as how you're naked, I didn't know how naked I should be. I'm sure if anyone would have seen me, it would have been embarrassing for me. I'm not used to fancy things and they had fancy showers that I wasn't quite sure how to work. Yea. I'm smart.
I put on my robe and waited for my appointment in the waiting area. We were on the 35th floor, so if I had been wearing my glasses, I'm sure the view would have been great. Then came the most luxurious 80 minutes of my life. I don't remember the lady's name, but she was magical. Seriously. Magical. After, they send you to the relaxation room where you can sip tea, eat fruit and just chill. More zen. More views. The locker room had those fancy rain showers, so I finished my fancy evening with a fancy shower. I literally walked out of there feeling like a whole new person.
Thanks, coworker. You can give your free massages to me any day.
I’ve been MIA. Not sure why. I’ve just been tired and not really motivated. But I have exciting news! Not only did I sign up for the Chicago Marathon, but my bestest friend MiMi signed up too. And now we started a fundraising team! We’re still working on making the page look pretty, but we’ll have it up for everyone soon.
Since MiMi will be running a marathon for the first time, I’ve decided to share some of my favorite things about marathon training.
Everyone thinks you’re a badass. When you tell someone that you’re training for a marathon, they look at you differently. They look at you like you’re awesome. Because you are.
You can eat pretty much anything you want, and you deserve it. There might be some things you crave more than others, like things that are good for you, but if a coworker offers you a cookie or 6, you don’t have to pass it up.
You learn that you’re capable of a lot more than you ever imagined. Marathon is training is about pushing your limits. You’ll realize you can push yourself more than you thought.
Having goals is awesome. Achieving them is even better. You get addicted to that feeling and then you start setting all sorts of goals.
Awesome legs. Or abs. Or both. I don’t need to say more.
This one is the most important. For the rest of your life, you can call yourself a "marathoner." Even if you crawl across the finish line, you're a marathoner. If you hit a rough patch later in life, you can say to yourself, "I'm a marathoner. I got this." And that's pretty freaking awesome.
So this is what we have to look forward to. It won’t be easy, but when your legs are sore and you start losing toenails from all that running, just remember this list.
Well in case you haven't noticed we're well into February. Where does the time go? Let's check in on all of our New Year's Resolutions, shall we?
Pay off my credit cards- Thanks to my tax return, I should be well on my way!
Become a legitimate staff member at work- I've talked to my boss. Now it's up to the big boss.
Run Chicago marathon in under 5 hours. I’d also like to actually train properly and push myself a little harder. As much as I hate it, weight training (and having muscles) is pretty important to marathon running.- Ok, well I signed up, and did a few push ups, so I'd say I'm at least on the right track.
Eat smaller portions at meal time and SLOW DOWN- I have a trick for this. Eat how Josh eats. He eats slow. I'm still working on this one, but it's easier when I'm eating with him.
Just because food is free, doesn’t mean I NEED to eat it- I will NEVER pass up free fruit, but I've been able to pass up free pastries. I call that success!
Eat less meat and certainly less “mystery” meat. If I’m going to eat meat, it should be something quality and organic- I've actually been eating just vegetarian or fish. I even made a vegetarian "meat" loaf. Josh couldn't even tell the difference. So far, so good!
Play piano once a week. I always liked playing the piano, and now I can barely read music. Not cool.- Ok. I admit. I haven't done this one at all. But I'd like to. I'll work on this one.
Blog more. I know you’re all DYING to know what I’m up to :)- I think I've been doing this one.
Set up blog analytics. - Nope. I actually totally forgot about this one :)
So it seems like I'm on the right track so far in 2012. Have you stuck to your resolutions?
Today I did something I've wanted to do for a while, but was too scared. I took the Advanced Bikram class.
The part that scared me the most is you have to take a regular class THEN stay for another hour and a half of the advanced class. I was worried about staying in the hot room for so long and thought I would surely pass out. I took my regular class as usual and all went pretty well. The room cleared out and the advanced class started. I had zero expectations and had resolved to just watch most of the class since clearly everyone will be more advanced than me. To my surprise I was able to keep up for the most part and even do some of the postures. I even got into lotus! Sure, I couldn't do any of the pretzel-y postures where you put your foot behind your head and balance on one finger, but I'm pretty ok with that. When it was all said and done, it was actually a lot of fun. We were more free to joke around and ask questions. We did a lot of hip openers which I love. My hips aren't very stretchy. But after class, everything feels loose and free. I might have to go back more often.
Day 30 is done! And let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. I felt like a freaking rock star for the first half, but somewhere in the middle, the entire class started to falter. People were sobbing. Literally. It was just that kind of day I guess.
So now that this is all over, what do I have to show for it? Let me tell you a story. When I started going to Bikram yoga, I was probably like most women in class. I wore long pants and a shirt to cover myself. I was self conscious and afraid of showing everyone my pale tummy and jiggly thighs. Most of all I was afraid of looking at it myself. In Bikram yoga, there are mirrors. The students spend most of the class focusing on their reflections in the mirror while doing the postures. The point is to give you something to focus on, which helps your mind stay focused. Most people just don’t like focusing on themselves. One day it got too much for me. I was too damn hot. I took off my shirt and bared my belly for everyone to see. Guess what? The world didn’t end. No one laughed and pointed. But now I had a new problem. At first, when I would stand in front of the mirror, half naked and pale, I would point out to myself the million and one imperfections I saw in myself. My belly was squishy. I had cellulite on my thighs. My waist didn’t go in enough. My nose is big. One eye is bigger than the other. The list could go on and on. I wanted to be perfect and I wasn’t.
I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but those thoughts, one by one, started to go away. They just got in the way of class. You can’t focus on balancing on one leg and holding your foot if you’re worried about looking cute, now can you? There just wasn’t enough room in my head. Eventually, the yoga won. It wasn’t even that I learned to like the imperfections, it’s that I just didn’t see them any more. I’m sure they were mostly just in my head. I used to spend literally half an hour looking at myself in the mirror pointing out everything I didn’t like. Now I can spend half an hour looking at all the things I love about myself.
Not only did Bikram yoga teach me how to love myself, it taught me to love myself while I’m half naked, dripping in sweat, with make up running down my tomato red face. If I can love myself there, I can love myself anywhere!
I just signed up for the Chicago Marathon! I might be having a minor panic attack. When I signed up for New York, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. But now I do, and I'm still doing it. I think that means I'm at least a little crazy.
I'm going to celebrate my Chicago Marathon entry tonight, with day 30 of my 30 day challenge! So, yea, I guess I'm crazy.
