It’s all everybody is talking about. The deep freeze across the country. The wordspolar vortex have probably been uttered more times today than at any time in history, perhaps breaking the record for frequency of 2-word phrases in Cyberspace and TV-land and trending in Twitterverse. Today was the kind of day when every conversation at the office water cooler and on the train and on Skype with the relatives abroad, every conversation seemed at first like cocktail party small talk as everybody’s focus was on the weather. 

And when I took out my bottle of water on the train to drink and rehydrate, people looked at me weird, with a look that translated to “Why are you drinking water? Can’t you feel how cold it is? Don’t you know we’re in the middle of the polar vortex?”

But there are things you have to do all the time, whether you feel like you want to or not. Hydration is one of those things. No, you’re not sweating outside like you do during the summer but your body still needs water to digest  food and hydrate muscles and transport nutrients to your organs. Although lots of people called in sick (or called inCOLD) today, your body is still working.

And if you did some stretches or ran in place to keep warm, or paced on the subway platform to help keep the circulation in your toes when it felt like your winter boots had failed, or even just because you did some unplanned weight lifting from the extra 10pounds of layers you wore today, it counts for something. You did a workout in sub-zero temperatures.

So celebrate! And have a drink of water! I did! 


This post appeared first on my blog http://runwright.net/ on January 7, 2014.

This is what I look like on Sabbath.

Saturdays are for church – for getting dressed up, forgetting about all the stuff in my life and just going to offer my worship and praise to God among lots of other people who want to do the same thing.

But tomorrow, I am looking forward to higher temperatures so I can trade in the high heels for sneakers, sequins for spandex, camisole for sports bra, and a fascinator for a head band so I can go out and RUN!

Part of being a Christian is being a good manager of the things God has given me – like my health. I want to do the best I can with those gifts and give God a return on His investment in me.

Today I rest. Tomorrow I RUN!

This post first appeared on my blog http://runwright.net/

It's snowing tonight. I should be in bed but I love to watch the snow. The plows are out every hour because this is NYC, the city that never sleeps, even at 3:45 a.m. there are people trying to get somewhere, by car or on foot. Even with the snow that's already falling and the threat of blizzard-like conditions later, there are places to go and things to do.

(Originally posted on my blog http://runwright.net/)

Good morning and Happy New Year to all. 

I know I am a little late in sharing my New Year's Resolutions and New Year's Goals but I totally took the first day of the year off. I hung out with my friends, did a little traveling to New Jersey and now I am back and ready to go. Full steam ahead!

So these are the 7 Resolutions that I will focus on for 2014:

1. Run at least 4 times every week, minimum mileage of 12 miles per week 
2. Be more organized. Get rid of some of the clutter in my life - physical and mental - to make room for something better (see post http://runwright.net/2013/12/31/give-so-you-can-get-something-better/)
3. Stop procrastinating. Trade in the last-minute rush by asking for help and making specific plans for projects including timelines and working according to the schedule.
4. Maintain regular contact with my family members - I am guilty of choosing other things and other people over my family, especially my extended family. This year, I want to be a better daughter, sister, aunt, godmother, niece and cousin. 
5. Eat better. This is a resolution that will constantly evolve as I do the Daniel's Diet and my favorite almost-vegan diet that I cycle in and out of, and perhaps a juice cleanse sometime. More on that later.
6. Utilize ALL my talents so I can develop others - currently, I can name talents for writing, teaching and severely-underused, fledgling talents for music and languages. Let's see what I have gained/developed at the end of 2014.
7. Read more lasting things - I like to read news articles on the road but I should really invest time in reading more of the non-fiction books that I really love.

These are my 7 Fitness Goals for 2014:

1. Run a sub-2 hr half marathon
2. Run a sub-4 hr marathon
3. Run races in 5 different states
4. Run a minimum of 600 miles in 2014
5. Run a 5K at a 7 mile pace 
6. Complete my first century on my road bike - NY Campagnolo Gran Fondo or NY Century
7. Bike a minimum of 500 miles in 2014

7 Resolutions and 7 Goals. 14 in 2014!

Notice the lack of weight loss goals in my lists? That's because I think that when you workout regularly and eat well, when you are not stressed from procrastinating so you have to stay up all night to finish a project, when you are setting goals and meeting them and you aren't hiding from your cousins because you missed the last 3 family events, when you are able to come home to a sanctuary because you've gotten rid of the junk that's been cluttering every available tabletop and corner and now you are surrounded by things you really love and really need, when you are happy and fulfilled and satisfied, then your natural weight emerges and whatever that weight happens to be for me, I will be happy with it. I just hope that it's a weight that allows me to wear my size 2 jeans :)

Happy 2014 all!(Originally posted on my blog http://runwright.net/)