What I didn’t tell you is the workout playlist you helped me build is going to be played at evian’s “Live Young, Get Fit” pop-up workout event, taking place this spring in L.A., New York City and Miami!

Celebrity trainer and star of Bravo’s Workout and Thintervention, Jackie Warner will be leading the workouts and I will be playing D.J.! (okay, so I won’t actually be D.J.’ing the event, but I did put together the playlist)

Here’s the schedule for the day:

Spin 3:00-3:45

Run 4:00-4:45

Yoga 5:00-6:00

I hope to see you there!

***UPDATE: RSVP beginning Monday, May 28th!

It’s not easy to summarize a relay race composed of 12 runners running 200 miles in 31 hours and 41 minutes. It was a crazy-amazing journey filled with a roller coaster of emotions.

Our Team: Team Off Balance sponsored by New Balance

Van 1:

Leg 26: 8.34 miles: (hard terrain)
Start time: 6:54am
Average pace: 8:17 (plus one stop)

I was extremely anxious about this leg of the race. I had about 30 minutes of sleep before starting my final leg. I hadn’t ran 17.5 mile in a 24 hour period in years. The ‘ole injuries were also showing their ugly head so, I was mentally psyched out.

I started this leg of the race at a comfortable training pace. The first few miles were a little rough as my injuries decided not to join in on the relay fun. Around mile three I started to feel a bit better and after a brief stop for water and gu, I was on top of the world.

This was by far my favorite leg of the race. I fell in love with running as kid in middle school and I learned it would be a life long love affair when in my twenties I ran along quite, suburban streets. In the quiet cool of the morning, this run reminded me of those days.

This recap is getting out of control in length so I’ll wrap up quickly for those of you still reading.

Reach the Beach was an amazing experience thanks to the race organizers and to New Balance. I couldn’t have had a better team or been in a better van.

A soreness I hadn’t felt since my last marathon began to settle in before the race finished. I’m still exhausted and definitely still recovering from the hills and thrills of the race. There was something about completing my three legs and being able to run the paces I ran without properly training for this distance that give me the confidence that all of marathon dreams are going to come true in 2012.

If anyone asks, “Hey, I need one more runner for my relay team, so and so dropped out would you want to join us?” answer YES!

{Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. Our team was sponsored by New Balance. All race fees were covered and we received New Balance gear to train for the race as well as to wear during the race. All thoughts and opinions are my own.}

Reach the Beach Relay was amazing!! I’ll tell you all about it later this week. Until then, here’s the spoiler:

We reached the beach!

Now onto a SIDI from last week and my commitments for this week.

I completed all of my planed workouts except for plank a day. Once I got to Boston on Thursday, the planks went out the window.

Workout highlight of the week: Running my 3rd leg of the relay.

Lesson I learned this week: All workouts are better when you have eleven teammates cheering you on.

Workout goal for the week: Continue with morning workouts

Workout commitments for the week:

• Run 26 miles
• 2 Physique 57 classes
• One spin class
• Pt Exercises every other day
• Pt stretches every day
• Get back on the plank a day bandwagon

Any thing interesting to share about your workouts or races from last week? What workouts are you committing to this week?

Congrats to everyone who ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon yesterday!

right now I’m either sitting in a van waiting my turn to run or running one of my three legs as a part of Team Off Balance at the New Balance Reach the Beach Relay.

Sitting here writing this at 12:50a.m. on Thursday morning, I’ll admit I’m a little nervous for my 17.5 miles. What have I gotten myself into this time?

Hopefully, some exercise endorphins, time with new friends and some delirious silliness from lack of sleep.

Good luck to everyone racing the Brooklyn 1/2 Marathon this weekend and to everyone else who is headed out for a run!

As I sat at my desk today working and printing out the 30 page manual for the Reach the Beach Relay, my thoughts drifted to November 4, 2012.

{Is it weird that I’m about to head to Boston to ride in van overnight and complete my longest mileage of running in a 24-hour period without sleep & all I can think about is NYCM?}

Obviously there’s a lot of preparation that goes into running a marathon. We won’t cover that here today. However, there are few strange things that I am doing to get my head in the game.

The unusual thing I’ve started doing? Wearing my hair the way I’ll wear it on marathon day during my long runs.

NYCM circa 2003 looking a little rough after 26.2

Told you it was weird.

No matter how unusual my quirks about getting ready for race day are they all add up to hopefully getting my head in the game.

171 days until NYCM 2012.

My all time favorite workouts for every season are the ones you can do anywhere with minimal equipment. Each time I share a workout with a client or with you I want it to be something simple you can do at home or in the park.

I also want to make sure the exercises I give are effective, challenging and easy to follow. While you may be shaking your head in disbelief that water bottles can’t be heavy enough to use as weights, I dare you to try this workout.

If you try this workout and like it let me know then share it with a friend!

{Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own.}

Like any new hobby, I soon grew tired of taking class after class. Once again I was searching for the workout class I wanted to stick with for the long haul. After falling in love with Physique 57 a year ago, I decided this was going to be the perfect workout to compliment my running goals.

Then injury struck and I limited myself to workouts that wouldn’t cause pain. Last night I took my first Physique 57 class in over a year where I didn’t have to worry about injuries.

While I don’t normally have to worry about needing any sort of extra challenges in this class, wearing the new Blake Brody Physique 57 limited edition footwear takes this class to a new level.

These lightly padded, slip-less shoes prevent feet from sliding on the carpet, which means focusing more on the exercises and less on trying to keep feet grounded.

I’ll admit, I like the breaks slipping in grippy socks allows (thigh work in barre classes kills me each and every time!). I know that after I get back into a routine at the studio I’d rather not worry about sliding out of place.

If you’re looking to take your barre classes up a notch or you’re tired of spending money on grippy socks every time yours are dirty, I recommend trying out the Blake Brody In-Studio Footwear.

{I was not compensated for this post. I was sent a a pair of the above mentioned shoes to review. All opinions expressed are my own.}

Here are the workouts I committed to last week and how I fared:

• Run 25 miles ran 24 miles (total for the week)
• one 10-mile run DONE! (plus an extra mile)
• one speed session with 6×800 meter repeats  totally bombed on this one
• one 4-mile race skipped so I could do a long run
• one easy run DONE!
• Plank a day every day DONE!
• PT exercises every day DONE!
• one yoga class Didn’t happen
• one spin class DONE!

Not a stellar week by any means. However, it’s new week so onward we go!

Trying out a Tubura class earlier in the week. I'm still uncoordinated! Photo by Steven Meyer

This week I’m focusing on getting out the door earlier for my workouts and drinking fewer adult beverages. I’m also heading to Boston later in the week to run my first relay race. I can’t wait!

The race is a pretty big challenge for me as my three legs add up to just over 18 miles. I haven’t ran 18 miles in a single 24-hour period in years. Wish me luck!

This week, my SIDI workouts are schedule by the day of the week. I think if I don’t plan out my days I’ll end up with a week like this past one.

• Monday: Run 4 miles & Physique 57 class with Jill
• Tuesday: Run 3 miles + PT Exercises
• Wednesday: Spin + PT Exercises
• Thursday: Off
• Friday/Saturday: Run 17.5 miles (YIKES!!)
• Sunday: Off (PT Exercises)

In addition I’ll still do the plank a day every day! It’s really growing on me.

How did your workouts go last week? Anything fun to report?

What workouts are you committing to this week?

For example: Michele aka, NYC Running Mama, ran 26.2 miles over the course of three days and she’s 20-weeks pregnant!

For some reason channeling other runners isn’t doing much for my slump. Oh well, this too shall pass. Until then here’s some randomness for you on this beautiful Friday.

Hey Runner Girl is hilarious and awesome!

 Kinesio tape somehow makes me feel like I’ve made it as a runner. I have no idea why, but I guess it’s like a Band-Aid for runners. (And no I don’t have any idea what it does by being anchored to my hamstring so maybe I should ask my physical therapist).

Any random thoughts or things you want to share today?