Talk about a long overdue update! It’s been crazy and nuts but I am finally getting this up. I’ve been keeping a weekly journal of things I have done but posting them….yikes not my forte.
Nonetheless, here are the new happenings for October and November sans photos….I’ll get my act together eventually!
October 6th
It’s been a few years since I have been on a family vacation… One really late night in Norway this summer, I decided to book a trip for the parentals and I to Alaska. Given the time of year, as in Denali is closed for the season AND the government shutdown, I was hoping to see and enjoy what am could but more so, catch a glimpse of the Northern lights. (Liz and I set out to do so earlier this years when predictions had them showing in NYC.) i kept an eye on the forecasts and planned all i could to make things more probable. For example, I begged the gate agent to make my seat on the right side of the plane in order to have a better possible view of the lights. I got on the plane and I could hardly keep my eyes open.
Anytime I awoke from slumber , slightly annoyed at myself, I peered out the window for minutes at a time (they say you need to look for a while so your eyed adjust to the darkness). I did this numerous times. I kept checking the flight path, we were almost as close tot theNor Pole as we were going to fly. I peered hard out the window, and kept peering and peering. Then, as though it was a figment of my imagination…I saw a yellowish green wave appear in the distance. It danced its way across the dark sky as I stood entranced. My heart was pounding, I wish my eyes could take photographs.
October 13th
It goes without saying that the trip was off to an amazing start with that Northern Light spotting. The weekend was great with some of the following highlights…I made it to a state not in the continental US, I saw a moose, For the first time, I drove through a day of various weather, from rainy to snowy to sunny, I stopped on the side of a road and had my dad fill up my CamelBak with fresh water coming right out of the limestone, I ran along the ocean for over three hours with some gorgeous scenery (and thoughts of how a wild bear was going to jump out of the forest areas and kill me) through forests, residential neighborhoods, under an airplane runway while watching the sunrise. Ahhh! So amazing, talk about a great 3day weekend!!!
October 20th
This week has been a little more low key now that I am gearing up for the NYC marathon! It’s less than two weeks away!! Eek! With that in mind, I knew I would have a lot of carboloading in my future. Personally, I like to also cut out caffeine and unnatural sugars. So when my besties, Nilez and Liz wanted to head to The Witches Brew coffeehouse, I knew it would mean some ridiculously delicious chocolate pecan pie. I can’t go all the way there and skip out EVER. So I took it as my last hurrah! I did however try a new espresso drink…the as pictured here. Delish yes! Best drink I’ve had at witches brew? Definitely not.
October 27th
So who doesn’t love some karaoke with friends? Well, I guess most people….is it more enticing if you are doing it in the privacy of your own home? A little better, right?!
Well, now, how abut a private room with some of the coolest people you know? Fantastic, right? Well, that’s what I did this week after work. Friday thanks to the careful planning of Tracy, thanks Tracy! Have I ever done karaoke and make a fool out of myself? yes! But, in a private room with a bunch of friends? Nope! Lots of fun, here is a panoramic shot I took before running off to My Inspiration Pasta dinner with LLS.
November 3rd
The ING NYC marathon.
Wow! I now understand why people say it is the greatest marathon in the world. There is no doubt in my mind that I will never run a marathon as amazing as NYC in any other city. The crowd support is unreal, the way you run down streets with people screaming your name, yelling encouragement, everyone cheering you on and the level of energy- something i wish i could bottle up and keep with me….The way in which NYC becomes a big bowl of love. Wow! One of the best experiences of my life!
Then, aside from all the random stranger support….I had coaches and dozens of friends out there cheering me along. A truly remarkable experience. And most of all, I was out there for nearly five and a half hours taking thousands of steps for Tanzila. Every step I run is for her, her boys and every other person out there who is effected by Leukemia and Lymphoma and all other cancers out there. It is thanks to sooo many friends and family members that I have now crossed the $15,000 threshold of money raised for LLS since last February. I hope that going forward I will be able to continue to raise funds because one day there won’t be cancer out there and it will be thanks to you.
November 10th
I did a few new things this week, including making some banana speculoos muffins. Yum! I hit up Brooklyn Boulders for the first time with Earthwatch buddy Jess and did some bouldering! Lots of fun (even though I stunk!)
However, I think the best decision for doing something new this week was going to a chiropractor. I have had a long and lingering pain in my neck since September. It has caused my shoulders to get really tense, a source of migraines and as of last week, I couldn’t even sit up straight…my body wouldn’t even let me! So I finally made it to the chiropractor and the difference it made was instant. Mobility was restored in my neck and I could finally sit up again! Yey! I have been telling everyone to go to a chiropractor, get your spine snapped back into shape, it’s amazing!!
November 17th
Thanks to the inspiring Earthwatch trip this summer, I was motivated to start a Bugs & Botany after school class. On our trip to Central Park today we did all sorts of fun things. As we walked around we came across one of these… One of the girls called it a brain fruit. I had never seen it before, and couldn’t argue with her!
After some investigating I.e. google search for “green fruit looks like brain” I found out it is actually an Osake Orange, yes, you read that correctly, an orange!!!!???!!! Go head, google it!!
We sniffed, proded it, threw a few against trees and decided it smelt like a minty cucumber meeting a honeydew. It oozed light green juices when squeezed, when we finally broke one open we found that it was full of seeds hidden deep within the flesh!
The website I found, states the edible part is the seed… They seeds taste fairly bitter on the outside and tasteless on the inside. Definitely one of the coolest looking fruits ever! It gives dragon fruit a run for its money!!
Week of November 24th
I finally made it to a strength training workout with Team in Training…I am a little ashamed to admit it took me five seasons to get there! There were many times I wanted to, and even lugged my workout gear to work but the incentive of bowling while working out was one I couldn’t turn away! So five lanes full of TNTers bowling and working out all at once. We may have had a couple of weird stares and flabbergasted waiters…haha, but fun things happen when you are part of TNT! Thank you Coach Mike for sponsoring and Coach Matt for the workout!
Tags: GoTeam, nycmarathon, running, runningwithmoose, sparklysoul, strangefruits, TEAMINTRAINING, wildanimals
