I PR'ed BIG TIME!!!

Spring is finally here in NYC and Greenpoint, Brooklyn is my favorite place to be.  Many weekends have been dedicated to wearing out our energetic chiweenie Landon.  We like to walk him to McCarren Park in Williamsburg, which is a 2 mile walk each way.  Then we let him run like crazy in the small dog park.  I started putting on my running shoes to walk him, but now I am taking Landon on my runs up to 3 miles.  And Izzy started riding his bike with Landon running beside him.  Two really energetic people are having a hard time keeping up with the exercise needs of one little doggy.  I am wondering what we will do next winter.

I am super proud of Izzy, he has committed to 10 weeks of intense boxing training and to be part of a amateur boxing event at Gleason's for charity.  He is training 5 times a week for 2 hours a day.  You can check out his profile on the website here: https://www.crowdrise.com/romelnava/fundraiser/gleasonsgiveakidadream. The event will take place at Gleason's on July 19th, and he will be selling tickets for $25. 

On May 4th, I rode in the Five Boro Bike Tour with Izzy and Chester (and 32,000 others).  The tour was 40 miles, and the longest ride for Chester and Izzy to date.  Those guys kicked ass, so proud and happy for them.  Izzy loves to wear my shirts from running events, I teased him that he actually earned this one. 

On May 10th, I ran in the Healthy Kidney 10K with my friend Maureen.  I raised $1185 for Team Kidney in honor of my brother— thank you to everyone who donated.  I had a running goal to finish in 1 hour, so I was thrilled to finish in 1 hour 38 seconds. I PR'ed!  (PR="personal record", not "Puerto Rico" LOL)  It was my fastest 10k time and also my fastest pace for any NYRR running event.  Maureen must have finished about 5 minutes before me, she's fast!  It was her first New York Road Runners event and she surprised herself. 

Last Saturday, May 17th, I PR'ed again.  My third half marathon was my fastest yet.  I didn't expect to do so well because I have not been training hard since the NYC Half in March.  I shaved about 17 minutes off of my last half marathon time and finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, and 58 seconds!  Wowzers!  That's an average pace of 10:08.  Izzy brought Landon on the Vespa to come pick me up, I was so happy to have my two Mexican boys there to celebrate my victory.  But, as fun as it may sound to end a half marathon with over 25,000 runners in Coney Island, I have to say that I sort of agree with something I heard after I crossed the finish line.  I overheard a guy say "Why did we run all the way to this shithole?"  No cellphone reception and long lines for bathroom or beer make me quite the grumpy pants, especially after running 13.1 miles.  I was happy to get the hell out of there, but the traffic made that more excruciating than the 133 minute run to get there in the first place.  At least they had bagels at the finish line this year and not just stupid bags of pretzels (like last year!). The fact that there is now an Applebee's on Surf Ave. has kind of killed the whole vibe for me I guess.

Next on the horizon, I've got the Queens 10k in June, and I've committed to a training program for the NY Marathon in November using Gipis iphone app.  I'm going to run 4 times a week and my goal is to finish in about 4 hours and 20 minutes, which equals an average pace of 9:53 per mile.  (Or about 15 seconds per mile faster than the Brooklyn Half).  I've been waking up at 5:15 in the morning with Izzy, he goes to boxing training and I go to the gym or run with Landon.  We're going to be so buff!

Countdown to 40: Saturday, October 24, 2015

In 802 days I will turn 40.  This realization hit me this weekend as my mind was wondering during a long run.  I recently got engaged (to my best friend, YAY!) and the tentative time frame for the wedding as of now is September 2015.  NYC summer is too hot, September is beautiful.  October is always jammed packed socially because everyone I know seems to have an October birthday, including me, my fiancé (Izzy), and my mom.  Then there's Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Years.  It goes by very quickly.

This got me thinking about resolutions and goals.  I keep saying to Izzy how happy I am that we were able to accomplish so many goals in the first half of this year:

• I started a new job this year.  It started out very rocky, but then I was thrown into a sink or swim situation and I rocked it.
• I saw my original textile designs on my new favorite show Orange is the New Black.  On episode 6 Spanish mom's boyfriend visits her in jail wearing a flocked shirt that I designed for Jhane Barnes.  Earlier this year I also saw a print that I designed in the movie "Lay the Favorite".
  
• I got my motorcycle license.
• We got a Vespa!  Meet the family: That's Rocco (Vespa GT 300 Super) on the right with Luna (Kymco People 50cc) on the left.
  
• Izzy started bartending again on Thursday nights (He does it mostly for fun, and it makes him really happy when he does it just once a week).  To say that he is an extrovert and high-energy is actually an understatement.  He waited on Jimmy Fallon for the 2nd time, and Jimmy gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
• We got engaged and picked out a custom ring that we love and reflects both of our style.
  
• Finally getting renter's insurance.
• We hired a house cleaner.  Izzy fired the last house cleaner a year ago, promising that he could and would do a better job.  He didn't.  But it's ok, he's a hard worker, he shouldn't have to.  I didn't need to be convinced, he did.
• We now have a real guest room.
• I ran in the Brooklyn Half Marathon, which was my first 1/2.  I got my first running medal and came really damned close to my goal of 2 hours and 30 minutes.
  
  
• I joined New York Road Runners and have guaranteed entry to the 2014 New York City Marathon.  I earned my spot by running in 9 qualifying NYRR events and volunteering at the New York City Half Marathon (which earned me a guaranteed space in next year's half as well).
• I raised $1315 for the National Kidney Foundation and ran the Healthy Kidney 10k in Central Park on May 11th, 2013.  My run was dedicated to my brother who was a double transplant recipient (kidney AND a pancreas!) last winter after having kidney failure.
  
  
  

By 40 I will have run a marathon and be married!  I've been making a list in my head of some other things that I would like to accomplish - personally, professionally, and fitness-oriented.  I am going to list my goals on this blog and document my trials and tribulations.