Yes, I'm Still Here...and Hellooo Summer!

I guess it's time to revive this blog. But seriously, how do bloggers do this daily? Do you spend all day on your computer? Because then, no thanks.

Anyway, my summer so far has consisted of lots of (much needed) cocktails, more consistent trips to the gym and walks around NYC, including one benefiting YAI Network, a non-profit dedicated to helping people with developmental disabilities (If you can recall, I signed up for this last year too and ended up running instead of walking because I was getting impatient. 30 something minutes for a 5k? God, I miss my more fit self. But this time it was more about supporting a good cause than hitting a PR, so please donate if you can.).

If you can't tell how excited I am about hot weather and more freedom, then, well, I can't help you.

What's in store this summer?

• Celebrating the summer solstice with yoga in Times Square. I've signed up for the 7:30am class. I clearly like to torture myself. Join me and register before spots fill up!
• Connecting with my Filipino roots through CORE.
• Brushing up on Espanol, trapezing, hair coloring, bikram-yoga-ing, and learning how to ride a bike!

Y tu?

Ballet Flats: So Pretty, So Bad for Your Feet

Poop.

I already knew that I wasn't supposed to be walking around in ballet flats. But I keep a pair at my desk at work anyway in case my outfit that day does not go with heels. The last time I wore them, my plantar fascia hurt. Like I had to take time off from running, hurt.

Two weeks ago (when I took a  kickboxing class) I got a terrible charley horse in my sleep and my calf was SORE. So I thought I'd give my calves a break and wear the flats for a day. How bad could it be? Well lets just say that while I was recounting this to my podiatrist he made the "Ooh, you shouldn't have done that" face. 

Safe to say I will be spending the rest of this fall not running. Bye-bye, 5K PR. For now.

When I tell my coworkers (who are well-versed in foot injuries from running) about having plantar fasciitis I get the same "That's awful!" reaction. But to tell the truth, I'm a little relieved. I honestly thought I may have had a fracture. But x-rays showed otherwise, so PHEW. I just need lots of rest, ice, stretching, and staying away from damned flats.

I'm consoling myself by taking cabs (doctor-recommended) instead of trekking all over Manhattan when I have errands and buying a new pair of heels (on sale, at like 80% off baby!).

Talk to pro-athletes and they'll most likely tell you to "Listen to your body" as a key piece of advice. My body's definitely yelling at me. I'm listening now!

Updates Galore

Let's get right to it:

1. Last weekend was the FITNESS Mind, Body, Spirit Games 4-mile race and the Susan G. Komen's 5K. I ran the latter and walked the former with a friend. Though I had to take walking breaks during the 4-miler (running uphill is hard!) I beat my last 5k's pace by a few seconds, finishing in a little over 43 minutes. Yay. The walk wasn't timed, but I'm just glad I didn't need to crawl because I was still exhausted from the day before. Since last weekend I've been trying to get rid of a cold and catching up on work, so no running for me. The next 5K race is in a couple of weeks so I should probably start again, eh?

2. I am making another change to the list. Let's face it -- I will probably never have time to swim. For one thing, the nearest pool I have free access to is uptown. And another thing, public pools = yuck (and might cause cancer? But then again what doesn't cause cancer). SO! I am changing #12 to... trying a new hair color! Since my last hair disaster 4 years ago when I fried my hair from too much chemical straightening, I have vowed to lay off any treatments until I was 25. I think I've been good to my hair since then, keeping it au naturale. But I've always had redhead envy and I'm getting bored with my hairstyle, so we'll see how this turns out. My skintone probably won't go well with a shade like Julianne Moore's or Marcia Cross' (sigh) but a brighter tone will look nice against all the black clothes I tend to wear in the colder months.

Forget blondes, red heads should get all the attention.

"Each step is one less step you have to take."

That's what an old-ish man told his running partner as she (and I) made the halfway mark at the Sgt. Keith A. Ferguson 5k this morning. Technically this wasn't my first 5k, but it was the first one I ran through its entirety -- no walking breaks!

Total time: 33:51 seconds. Bizarre, considering I ran/walked this one in about 31 minutes but I'm just glad I fought every urge to stop running and walk instead and finished it. One step at a time. Thanks for the advice, old runner man.

Speaking of old people, there were runners of all ages this morning. The female overall winner was a 16-year-old (ah, to be an energetic youth), while there were 70-79 year-olds who finished in less time than I did. To be honest, one of the things that kept me going was seeing kids as young as 6 and old people run past me. If they can do it, why can't I? (Also, kudos for being ridiculously fit.)

30-Minute 5k - Almost There!

I wasn't supposed to run this 5K. I signed up several months ago expecting the pain in my left ankle to be gone by June and here we are in June and it still isn't fully healed. I even got to the race course late (thanks to MTA's weekend service and my need to pee) and decided to skip walking the 5K altogether and do the 3K walk later that day.

But turns out the 5K race just started when I got there and the lady at the booth said I could walk the entire thing.

Maybe it's the New Yorker in me, maybe I'm just impatient, but when I got to that race course the thought of walking while everyone else was running became ridiculous. 3 miles is a long freaking walk.

So I started running. I think I ran for 10 minutes before I started feeling some pain so I decided to walk the rest. I walked to the finish line where the clock read 30 minutes and something seconds.

I'm still not sure how that's possible, but hey, that's a pretty damn good time for someone who hasn't run since January.

I am icing leg as I'm typing this and hoping everything's OK tomorrow. If it is, then I'll be signing up for another 5K in July or August and maybe actually show up on time.

Oh, and if you have the funds, please donate to the YAI Network who hosted this race. They're a non-profit who hold several programs for people with disabilities and their families. Picking this race wasn't a random decision for me -- it's for an organization that truly deserves support for all the great things they do.