Drafting this post was a bit of a challenge logistically as I was on a tiny plane and the passenger in front of me was in recline mode. But I managed to sit with my arms scrunched and carried on.

My TV didn’t work on my JetBlue flight so the flight attendant kindly comped a drink for myself and the lovely lady next to me who had the same issue. I requested a glass of Chardonnay but no such luck. He told me he was bringing me a Grand Reserve from 1929 and I believed him for a split second. A little while later he asked us if we would like a refill and also offered to accompany our drinks with a cheese plate.  We kindly declined, as we wanted to arrive fresh and said we were saving ourselves for dinner out on the town– damn dairy intolerance, which I didn’t announce.

I’m traveling for business this week but I don’t discuss work on this blog.

During my one day stay in Boston pre-flight, I took the opportunity to learn something from each person I came in contact with on my brief visit.

Everyone who worked at Fifteen Beacon hotel took the act of top tier customer service very seriously. I felt like royalty during my one night stay.

The housemaid walked into my hotel room thinking I had checked out only to hear me (giving myself a pep talk for the day ahead) in the bathroom. Yes, I tend to give myself pep talks, out loud. What’s a woman to do? She graciously excused herself immediately. That wasn’t awkward at all.

My lunch dated confessed she just began running and wanted to do a half marathon by November of this year but didn’t know where to begin. We instantly had a new bond over running and I sent her a few links on training plans and suggested running with a local group.

I admired the woman whom I had coffee with earlier that morning. She was friendly, warm and approachable. She does it all and has the most adorable two children who by the looks of the photo I saw have bursting personalities. On a side note, she went to culinary school in France years ago and also published a cookbook. She also co-writes travel books with her husband. I love hearing about creative ambition.

My ride to the airport filled me in on his love for surfing. His first-ever try was in Hawaii of all places with his sister. It wasn’t until he surfed a wave in Providence, Rhode Island a few years later that he got the hang of it and became forever hooked. He prefers surfing in the winter months on the East Coast as the waves are much bigger here. He seems to have this beautiful surfing family community around him now.

My very kind and sweet airplane seatmate sitting next to me took the opportunity to visit DC for the evening on a work trip consisting of a complimentary dinner, a cozy hotel stay, free flights and the opportunity to meet colleagues from all over the world. She works for the state government.

The flight attendant was very kind and definitely took the act of customer service up a notch as mentioned in the beginning of this post.

Overall, my trip to Boston was a positive one, work-wise and personal learning-wise.

In devising my plan, I broke it down into sections. I started with “Top Priorities” listing out those intentions I wished to finalize by the end of the two year mark. Secondly, I broke down my plan into a category called “Scheduled Process” which consisted of selected timeframes such as “January – May 2012.” Within these sectors I dissected even further, naming each goal I planned to finalize within each top priority.

This entire project made me realize that my goals are obtainable and I have the ability to see results at the end of the two-year period.

Here’s an example of my layout:

In other news, I’ve entered into the lottery for the 2012 TD Five Boro Bike Tour.

Dear Registrant,

You have successfully entered the 2012 TD Five Boro Bike Tour lottery registration system!

I’ll find out my status by March 1. It’s about time me and this guy below become reaquainted.

New York City was a mini winter wonderland over the weekend.

Before heading out, I informed New York Road Runners via Twitter that I would be running on the bridal path in Central Park. That was before I got there and saw that it was covered with snow. They must have though I was insane or forgetful that we just had a little snow coverage.

Running is so calm and peaceful in the park when there is snow on the ground.

I made a little pledge to myself while I was running as well.

I’m excited about training for a half-marathon. This is the first time I’ve ever trained for this distance.

Running truly does make a difference in my day.

I’ve decided against running a marathon this season, so I’m making the More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Women’s Half-Marathon my main race for the springtime and it’s on April 15. I’m following a twelve week training plan beginning today.

I’m looking forward to taking on a fitness project outside of my element and seeing what sort of results culminate.

On a completely unrelated topic, I’m sort of in love with this hairstyle below.

Did I mention I am in love with Covert Affairs? I rented the first season on Netflix on a whim and am now addicted. It doesn’t take much for me. Just recently I talked about my love affair for the movie Friends With Benefits and I actually watched it back to back one night. Also, it took me awhile to get over the series finale of The O.C. which I also rented on Netflix. I now follow Ben McKenzie and Peter Gallagher on Twitter, thank you very much. Oh, and good news. Peter Gallagher is on the show Covert Affairs and now I get to see him in a new light. I also read that Ben McKenzie stars in the series Southland so that may enter my Netflix queue in the near future.

One might think, how do I have time to write and be productive in my spare time while watching all of these series? I have the answer for you. I multi-task. I rarely sit still so sometimes I have the TV on while writing or other times I’ll be watching a show via my laptop and I’ll pull out my notepad and brainstorm away.

Moving on, I was recently reading an issue of Health Magazine. I came across the cover story on actress Eva Longoria and I was intrigued.

I observed is that she is 36 years old and taking the world by storm. She’s an actress. She’s pursuing her master’s degree. She runs a nonprofit in which she founded. She also co-owns two restaurants, wrote a cookbook and produced a documentary. It was interesting that I was reading this particular article at this particular time. I was just thinking about my life the other day and wondered if I was “too old” to pursue some things I had in mind for this year. Yes, this was my thought process. Am I kidding myself? Who am I? People run marathons when they are 85. I finally told myself to get real. I never plan to stop dreaming or pursuing my passions in life.

I decided I would explain myself to myself in the same manner I described Eva’s contributions above. I work in beauty PR. I’m a writer. I created The Gumption Project. I’m a runner who competes in races. I will become a certified health coach one day soon. I’m writing a novel. I like to remind myself to stop selling myself short from time to time.

Speaking of books, I recently finished reading My Life With Eleanor by Noelle Hancock. I cried at the end. It was a brilliant ending to a honest, touching memoir. I first spoke about the book in a previous post. What I took from this book were a few points of interest. The author made a pact with herself and followed through. She spent every day for a year facing a fear. Secondly, she made me realize I want to know more about Eleanor Roosevelt. Next, I caught myself googling hiking trips to Mount Kilimanjaro. (Seriously? I don’t even like a two hour plane ride.) I took notice that this particular author has a distinct writing style that really drew me in as if I were a part of the experience with her. Back to my first statement, the ending really did it for me. The book was all I hoped it would be.

So, my final thoughts from me to you today in summary would be to watch Covert Affairs if you haven’t yet, think about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro if you enjoy hiking, know that you are never too old to pursue your life,  listen to jazz as it may warm your heart unexpectedly and never judge me for watching too many romantic comedies and teenage-inspired TV shows.

Have a great day.

Last week I conquered the act of taking cheese out of my diet. My stomach was a wreck, my allergies were off the charts and my ears were so clogged I could hardly hear out of them. I decided that was the sign I needed to give myself a break and stop destroying myself.

I feel much better already from just one small modification in my diet. It’s amazing. Now I just need to remember this feeling.

Around the same time I decided to axe cheese (most dairy for that matter) from my diet I also scheduled a colonic. The procedure can be costly but I noticed the location I had visited previously was having a sale. I couldn’t pass up the offer.

I’ve gotten a colonic once before about three years ago at a center in the city called SanaVita. The location was recommended to me through a friend who knows I am a complete neurotic person when it comes to worrying about cleanliness and safety for myself. Having not been too familiar with the process of Colon Hydrotherapy I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into at the time. Ultimately, I’m glad I moved forward with the experience. Now with the knowledge behind me, I realize I was doing something positive for my body.

Colon Hydrotherapy is the practice of gently infusing water directly into the rectum to internally cleanse and restore balance. Colon Hydrotherapy works by softly flushing out that which can’t be naturally eliminated. A colonic also hydrates the body and helps to restore the body’s optimal PH balance. The basic concept of colon irrigation remains the same today as in antiquity, but medical understanding and technology have evolved dramatically.

I’ve also been including more green tea in my diet and less coffee. I’m integrating even more fruits and greens on a regular basis. A new frame of mind and a few small changes is all it takes to head in a positive direction for oneself.

This may not sound like too much of a dramatic fear for me to face but in all honesty it was easy for me to sit in comfort and eat foods that didn’t agree with me. I even became immune to my body being uncomfortable and bloated. I’m being patient and more mindful of what foods work best for me in terms of feeling my most energized, positive self.

**Author’s note: I realize I sound part-robot in the above post. I’ve been suffering from a case of writer’s block but decided I needed to push through it so it didn’t continue on to infinity. Please be patient. My fabulous self will shine through again shortly. Promise. 

I usually think about the day ahead and catch up on some online reading (whatever I fancy at that moment) while eating my breakfast. It’s my morning ritual before I embark upon my daily to-do list.

Are you a morning person? A breakfast person?

It consisted of the following: gluten-free pasta, sauteed peas, garlic, olive oil, a dash of white wine, black olives, two tablespoons tomato sauce and fresh spinach. I topped my dish with a sprinkling of Daiya Cheese. To be clear, I’m not a fan of processed faux meat or cheese. Until I found Daiya. It’s truly not so bad and it’s the best substitute I’ve found yet for when I’m eliminating cheese (since cheese doesn’t always like me). Daiya Mozzerella Shreds (my favorite) are made from plant-based ingredients. I like when the ingredient list is short and to the point and I can understand and pronounce everything.

On the side I baked garlic bread in the oven using seven grain bread topped with a little organic butter, nutritional yeast and minced garlic.

This past Saturday I ran the the Joe Kleinerman 10K race in Central Park. I wasn’t particularly excited about racing but knew it would help me achieve some running mileage. I’m not pumped about running lately as I am still a part of the “getting back in shape” club. It’s much more fun to run when you feel light and breezy as if you are gliding through the air. On the flip side, I know I need to keep trudging away in order to obtain that feeling. It won’t miraculously happen on its own. So I keep putting one foot in front of the other.

When my alarm went off on Saturday morning bright and early I had a conversation with myself in my head as to whether or not I would get out of bed to do this race. I finally got up and moving. I would have felt bad about myself if I skipped out on the race, especially since the temperature was perfect for running.

I gulped some water and opted out of pre-race fuel. This wasn’t the best idea at all but I didn’t feel hungry and was running out of time. Sleep trumped pre-race preparation. Please don’t follow this advice at home. I left my apartment ten minutes late as I let myself snooze a little longer. I hopped on the uptown train which was also filled with tons of other runners. Once we arrived at our train stop I suddenly realized that maybe I shouldn’t have allowed myself the extra sleep time. Did ten minutes really make a difference in my day? I had only a few minutes to spare and still needed to check my bag and get to the starting line.

I began running to the park. I thought this was a good thing as it’s always acceptable to warm up your legs before a race. As I entered the park I realized I needed to change my plan of attack to a sprint in order to make it over to the bag check area. Once I arrived I threw off my layers of clothing and hustled back to the start just in time. I took a moment to catch my breath and get into a zen space as there is nothing worse than starting a race in panic mode. Seconds later I felt fine and jumped in with the corrals of runners.

I was very pleased to be running in a tee shirt and immediately felt a sliver of spring fever. I was pretending it was March and springtime was right around the corner. That thought always makes me quite giddy.

I was running without my beloved watch as I didn’t want to worry about how slow I was running. Instead, I ran by how I felt the entire race. I kept a steady pace throughout and enjoyed the course. I’ve run this loop of Central Park over a million times but it felt new and fresh during this race.

While conquering the last mile, I thought I recognized another runner I knew and decided not to let him out of my sight. This made me pick up my pace and even though I was about thirty feet behind him I kept up and ran through the finish line strong. Turns out, this wasn’t the runner I thought I knew but I’m still glad a stranger helped me achieve a strong last leg of the race.

My final race stats: 1:02:09, 10:02 pace/mile.

Next up on my racing calendar is the Manhattan Half-Marathon on January 21^st. This will serve as a training run for me. A very speedy friend offered to pace me. This scares me a little. But this year I’m all about doing things that push me out of my comfort zone so I suppose I should embrace this offer.

In other news, I just signed up for the More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Women’s Half Marathon on April 15. This will be my spring “focus” race as far as training goes. While registering, I filled out a survey and was asked how many half-marathons I’ve completed to date. I wasn’t sure off the top of my head and went to check my results on the New York Road Runners website. To my surprise, I’ve completed 67 NYRR races including 13 half-marathons. I’ve also completed 7 marathons and 2 triathlons in my lifetime and a few additional smaller races that weren’t organized through New York Road Runners. For a moment there, I was very proud of myself for my achievements. I’ve only just begun racing in 2006 and I’m so happy this has become a lifetime hobby/sport for me.

I decided to recreate their veggie balls using the recipe posted on The New York Times website. The only ingredient I didn’t add was the Parmesan cheese. Crazy, I know. No one loves cheese as much as I do but I’m trying to steer clear for now due to the fact that it never agrees with me and throws my body out of whack time and time again.

The veggie balls turned out glorious. I highly recommend this dish.

]]> http://www.onemoretime-withfeeling.com/2012/01/meatball/feed/ 4 http://www.onemoretime-withfeeling.com/2012/01/meatball/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OneMoreTimeWithFeeling/~3/Lc8SKnmiAFo/ http://www.onemoretime-withfeeling.com/2012/01/facing-my-fears-week-1-being-more-social/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:00:46 +0000 admin http://www.onemoretime-withfeeling.com/?p=4632 One of my New Year’s Goals is to do something every week that pushes me out of my comfort zone. It’s #14 on my list.

I originally came up with this idea a few months ago while stumbling upon the book My Year With Eleanor by Noelle Hancock.

I thought the book was such an interesting concept. It all began with a quote the author read in a coffee shop by Eleanor Roosevelt stating “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Ultimately, Noelle decided to make her 29th birthday the start to her yearly challenge to do something every day that scared her. I actually only just began reading the book so I cannot provide my full review quite yet, only my adoration of the concept.

I found myself relating to the author when she seemed to have discovered that she is more fearful now than her younger self and she found herself to be less social now than before. It struck a nerve with me. I don’t think I’ve realized some fears that have sort of snuck up on me through the years. It’s nothing that would be blatantly obvious, more so under the radar.

On the other hand, my twenty-three year old self would never think twice about anything. I would jet set anywhere at any time. I would make plans with friends at the drop of a hat. I wouldn’t worry too much. I thought I was invincible. Now I feel myself contemplating things over and over. I am hesitant in situations I would never have dreamt of being weary about ten years ago.

So, one of my goals for 2012 consists of me doing something that scares me every week. I thought each week may be a little more feasible and manageable for me rather than every day and I don’t want to set myself up for failure.

Every Friday I’ll keep myself accountable by posting what I’ve accomplished each week to move past any given fear.

This week I’ve focused on the “be more social” aspect of my existence. I opened myself to accepting invitations that came my way. I’ve made some plans with friends that are now on my calendar. It’s funny as more than a few plans came to fruition as soon as I opened myself up to receiving the opportunities.

I can say with certainty that this little project will assist me to grow as a person. I look forward to the discoveries and the adventure.

Have a great weekend.

Would you ever consider this type of challenge? What fears would you like to overcome, if any?