DONE!!!!

Holly and I are DONE! We ran the half marathon yesterday morning and finished without stopping. It was hard, one of the most physically demanding things I've ever done in my life for sure. The support of our friends and our families has been unbelievable. I'd like to thank everyone who came to the run to cheer us on and to the brunch after. You guys are honestly the only reason Holly and I were able to finish the race.

To talk about the actual run quickly. We showed up to the race about 45 minutes before it started and it was around 35 degrees and still dark out. We handed in our bags to be taken to the finish line and waited at the start line for over a half hour. Everyone was very cold and excited to get the race started. I will say, the event is run incredible well and these people have everything down to a science. The run started and Holly and I were nervous. At the 2 mile mark I saw my family and got pretty excited and more relaxed. After that there were a lot of hills that we did not know about in central park. We were in the middle of nyc city running up hills that you'd think would be in a mountain range (not exactly but it felt like it at the time). As soon as central park was over, 8 miles, we started heading down 7th Avenue. I got to see my family again as we made our way down and took a right onto 42nd towards the west side highway. That's when we saw Holly's family and friends. After that we made our way down the last 3 miles of the west side highway to the finish. That was the longest part of the race for me. You know your close but not that close and just praying to see the mile signs coming up soon. We "sprinted" the last 100 feet and finished strong.

After the race I could not feel my legs. They were completely exhausted. Holly and I both said that we actually weren't that tired or out of breath at all, our legs were completely shot though. I think my legs would agree that it was by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. After the race I went with my amazing family back to my apartment where Holly and I put together a brunch for the family and friends who have supported us through the past 3 months.

Once again I would just like to say thank you everyone. You were all so amazing helping us raise money, letting us complain to you almost every day, and truly helping us believe that we could finish the race. I'm sure I speak for Holly when I say that we thought of each and every one of you while we were running to help us finish. Thank you so much!

We're DONE!!!!!

Last Week, Day 4

Let's Go UConn!!!!!!

Final Week, Day 3

As the half marathon is getting closer, Holly and I have been raising money for our 2 charities. Holly did an amazing job reaching her goal a few weeks ago but I am still doing a final push for my last $200. If you would like to donate to Big Brothers Big Sister of NYC please click on the link below. Because it is the organization I work for, I am lucky enough to see mentoring changing the lives of NYC's youth every day.

http://www.crowdrise.com/bigbrothersbigsister52/fundraiser/LauraTrzasko

Thank you to each and everyone one of you who have been supporting us by reading and following the blog. It means the world to Holly and I that we have such amazing friends and family!

Love you guys!! 5 More Days!!

Final Week! Day 2!

Hello All! So as the week is going on I am finding myself get more and more nervous about Sunday. As you all know we're so excited for it to be over, but it's going to be hard! My 5 mile run yesterday went fairly well with my knees only bothering me a little in the begining. Just to think that I'll be running almost 3 times as far as I did yesterday makes me want to die.

Now, as race day gets closer I am most concerned with an important issue. What am I going to wear? As of now they're saying it's going to be in the high 40s or low 50s, but in the morning that's probably between 38 and 45 degrees. Holly and I are def wearing long spandex because it's the most slimming. I have to wear my BBBS of NYC shirt, but do I wear something under it or over it? I should wear it over everything but what if I get hot? I'll be stuck with whatever I decide to wear. They also say that you're suppose to write your name on your shirt so people can cheer for you. I have no idea what to wear!

I'll take any suggestions...

OMG!!! ONE LAST WEEK!

Holly and I have 7 more days until this half marathon is behind us! I could not be more excited for this thing to be over. This week's key, per the advice of a marathon expert my friend Meredith, is to hydrate as much as possible, eat healthy, and only go for a few short runs. I have a lot of confidence in us finishing the race without stopping but I am worried about how painful that accomplishment is going to be. Holly and I have worked so hard over the last 3 months and are just excited to see the cultivation of what we've done and enjoy the day.

I think our schedule this week will be to run today and wednesday and then take it easy for the most part with a long walk Saturday to get the legs moving. I'm pretty sure this is all I will be thinking about this whole week, so if my boss is still reading the blog, don't expect too much work from me. Just kidding.... (my dad is going to yell at me for saying that)

Keep your fingers crossed for us all week that the race goes well!!

Week 10, Day 5

So guess who woke up at 8am this morning?? I did! That's right, I am well on my way to being ok with waking up at 6:30 for the race next Sunday. I didn't run yesterday because I went to dinner with my BF for our anniversary (we're so cute). It rained all day last night anyway though, so I'm not even sure if Holly made it out to run.

I'm leaving work early today to make my way to the great city of Washington DC. Of course me being the cheap person I am will be taking the bus, but thank god for netflix and UConn playing at 7pm tonight! I am visiting a few people in DC but will be running 10 miles with my best friend who is a marathon runner. A.K.A. one of those people that signs up for a half marathon like 2 weeks before because they're so in shape all the time. When I told her we had to run 10 miles she used the words: great, excited, and fun. I don't think she understands that I will have been dreading this run the minute the 9 mile run was over last Saturday. It should be interesting.

Since I'll be in DC I don't think I'll be getting back to the blog until Sunday night or Monday morning. Although I think I deserve a little credit for posting every day this week!

Have a great weekend!

Week 10, Day 4

I got to spend part of my Wednesday night at my favorite place in the world, Boom Fitness. Because Wednesdays are technically cross train days and my knees have been killing me, I decided to go on the elliptical for a half hour. Its amazing how I used to go to the gym and almost die after being on the elliptical for a half hour and now it doesn't even feel like a workout.

After Boom I went over to Holly's apartment and we started talking logistics for the race. What we are going wear, what we're bringing, where should we tell people to go to try to see us when we're running? It's a lot to think about. So while I tried to plan Holly sat and laughed about how I have serious OCD when it comes to planning things out. It's a lot to think about and not having cell phones with us before, after, or during the race will be the hardest part.

Anyway, I got to sleep probably around 11:30 last night and set my alarm for 8. So obviously I woke up, turned off my alarm and slept until 8:40, even later than I usually wake up. This is going to be way harder than I thought.

Week 10, Day 3

Yesterday was a 5 mile run. It actually went better than I thought it would with the exception of my knees hurting the most they have so far. By the end of the run I could barely bend my legs. Oh well, we are down to only 10 more days of training!

After my run last night my BF and I went on a double date (my fav. thing to do) at Dave and Busters. Now, what people don't know about me is that I spent much of my weekends as a child at a wonderful place called Grand Slam. Grand Slam was like an arcade but then also had mini golf, basketball courts and batting cages. So when I was little my dad played basketball with all his buddies at Grand Slam every weekend and he would bring my brother and I. We would each get between $10-$20 to play games while he balled for 2 hours. We weren't the only family that did this so all of my friends from the neighborhood would be there and we'd run off to the arcade. I was ok at games like skee ball and pop a shot but where I really excelled was the claw. Girls would give me their coins to win them teddy bears, candy, and anything else you could imagine.

So after at least 5 years of going to Grand Slam I have completly mastered the claw. It's almost like it's an extension of my body now. Anyway, I got to show off my skills last night and won a knicks teddy bear for the BF. Pretty exciting stuff!

I got sleep right around 11 and started waking up around 7 this morning but still laid in bed until 8:30. Slowly this will start happening for me.

Week 10, Day 2

So... as expected I did not go to bed until 12 o'clock last night and once again woke up at 8:30. I need some serious recommendations. Granted it didn't help that I went to the Knick game last night and watched them kill the Jazz. It was one of those games where as a girl I almost wanted the Jazz to score a little more because I felt so bad for them. Julia Stiles was at the game last night and if you don't know, it was very exciting for me because Save the Last Dance is my favorite movie ever. Don't judge me because of that. I have different standards for favorite movies, they are the ones I could watch every day without getting sick of it. Easy A is starting to replace Save the Last Dance though.

Anyway, today Holly and I will be running 5 miles outside because it's suppose to be a fairly nice day. I of course made plans for dinner tonight and will probably not be going to bed until late again. I think my new strategy will be to just start waking up early so my body is tired earlier in the night... who knows.

Crunch Time!!

Wow, less than 2 weeks away from the half marathon and Holly and I are officially freaking out. We ran 9 miles on Saturday along the east river and didn't stop once! But after we were done we both could barely walk. Hopefully after recovering yesterday and today we'll be ready for our 5 mile run tomorrow.

I would like to point something out that I've been missing a lot in our blog and I feel like everyone else probably has too. Boom Fitness! Because of the nice weather our visits to Boom have been very limited. I went one time last week and the weather was awful so there wasn't really anyone there to complain about. I miss it. I guess we all knew the time would come when we wouldn't go to Boom as much and we'd have to run outside, I just didn't think it would be this soon. I was thinking more the week before the half marathon. So sad.

Starting today I am going to attempt to go to bed early for the next 2 weeks. My normal schedule is to go to sleep around 12ish and wake up around 8:30. In 2 weeks I need to change my schedule to waking up at 6 and going to sleep by 10. This is never going to happen unless sleeping pills are involved and I refuse to take them. I guess I'll have to try reading a book, counting sheep, or any other stupid methods for falling asleep that don't work.

Week 9, Day 4

Good morning everyone. I have been pretty behind on posts because work has been doing a good job of keeping me busy all day, they have some nerve. But I wanted to update everyone on our progress because I know it helps get all of you through the day. Tuesday Holly and I ran 5 miles, with basically no problem. Sooo gross that I can say that. Yesterday was either a cross-train day or a 3 mile day, hmmm I wonder which one I picked. My friend Emily and I decided yoga would be a good thing to do instead of running. Bad move, I would rather ran 3 miles than do yoga with her for 30 minutes again. It was so hard, I haven't been able to touch my toes in over 5 years and basically every move required that low level of flexibility. So now I'm sore, pissed I didn't run 3 miles yesterday, and dreading running 5 miles at the gym today because the weather decided to be 30 degrees out.

Anyway, I think Holly and I have decided that as long as we run 3 times during the week and the long run on the weekend, we'll be ok. My confidence is a little better after the 8 mile run last weekend, but we'll see. Holly and I will be doing 9 miles on Saturday in hopefully beautiful weather. This weekend's run is a huge deal because after it we only have 2 weeks left of training and only one more long run. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it looks AMAZING!

Week 9, Day One

I know I start every week saying this, but can you believe we are nine weeks into our training!? This weekend I had an awesome time visiting my friend Janet in CT for some wonderful wine tasting and I even managed to run 4.5 miles Saturday morning. We went to 5 vineyards and I ended up only bringing back 4 bottles of wine with me, which I feel is an accomplishment. On the train ride home I complained to my friend Emily for at least a half hour about how I was suppose to run 8 miles but didn't feel like it and blah blah blah. Bless her heart for not punching me in the face. Anyway, when we walked off the train into NYC, the weather was almost 50 degrees and sunny, I had to run. After laying on my wonderful couch for 2 hours and spending time with my bf I feel like I haven't seen in a month, I ate a skinny cow and went. Note: Never eat a skinny cow and then go running, worst idea ever. Anyway, I made it all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge and back without stopping and felt amazing. Yeah my knees felt like they were about to break and I wanted to throw up my skinny cow, but I did it!

So now Holly and I are less than 3 weeks away from the race. We only have 2 more weeks of hardcore training and then the last week is mostly resting and light cardio. I need to start working on going to bed early and waking up early, the complete opposite of what I do now so I'm sure that's going to be interesting considering the race is at 7:30 in the morning and that's an hour earlier than I wake up for work.

Today is a stretch day and then Holly and I will be going for a 5 mile run outside tomorrow. It's getting closer!!

Week 8, Day 4

So Holly and I are making our way through the week with little motivation. I blame it on the long weekend. We skipped our tuesday workout and ran 3 miles yesterday at the gym. Today is 4.5 miles and it's looking less and less likely to happen. Any encouraging words would be awesome. Holly leaves for a ski trip tonight and tomorrow I leave for a wonderful weekend of wine tasting. So while Holly is being active, I'll be wasted and too hungover to workout. We have already declared that we need another motivational meeting Sunday night. We're both waiting until Monday to do our 8 mile run together which will really show where we are physically.

Wish us luck because we are seriously hitting a wall. I also want to apologize for this weak blog post, I've only eaten chocolate today and I'm starting to crash.

Week 8, Day 2

So I'm sure you are all dying to know how Holly and I did on our run together. Holly came and visited me at my parents house in the great state of New Jersey for the weekend so we could run together on Saturday. When the weather man says that it's going to be windy you normally think to yourself, that shouldn't be a big deal, it'll be like 20 MPH winds max. Nope, not saturday, we were running against 60 MPH winds at times during our 7.5 mile run. I took the lead on our run because I knew the area and at one point Holly literally blew past me because of the wind. Long story short we only ran 7 miles but it felt like we ran 20 because of the wind. But we do have an awesome story from the run....

Holly and I were running down a back road and we saw that a car had driven right into a telephone poll head on, probably from the wind. We stopped to make sure the girl in the car was ok but a few people were already with her so we kept running. On the way back there we police men blocking off the road in both directions because the telephone poll looked like it might fall. The policeman told us that we couldn't run past the accident and had to turn around and go around (at least 5 additional miles back to my house). Our faces looked so defeated. We had both reached a point where we wanted to just stop and go home from all the running and the wind. I think the man saw the desperation in our faces and offered to drive us to the other side of the accident. Thank God! Then the best thought ever passed both our minds at the exact same time, we are about ride in the back of a police car for the first time!!! After all the excitement of the 100 yard ride we got out and ran the mile and a half back to my house.

So even though the run was awful and I think we're feeling a little less motivated right now because it seriously took a lot out of us, we do have an awesome story to tell.

Week 7, Day 3

Since I've been a slacker the past 2 days, I'm feeling pretty rested! It's almost nice to walk up stairs without feeling like someone is stabbing me in my knees. But today is a very exciting day, Holly and I will be running outside together for the FIRST time. Can you believe we haven't actually ran together yet?? Now this starts to make me a little nervous. What if she runs a lot faster than me? What if I need to stop and she doesn't? Should we listen to music or talk the whole time? Soooo much to think about. On the bright side, I'm so distracted by being nervous I'm forgetting that we're running 4.5 miles.

For those of you not in the tristate area, the temperature is suppose to reach 60 at some point today, so I'm sure there will be a ton of runners out. Which brings me to another point, whose going to set the pace? The slowest person (me)? The fastest person (Holly)? This run will set the tone for runs to come and the half marathon. Theres a lot of pressure for this to work out. I feel like I'm going on a date.

Anyway, wish me luck. Hopefully she'll be gentle the first time and let me take the lead. My hands are getting sweaty already!

Week 7, Day 2

I can't believe we're 7 weeks into this training. I'm not going to lie, I'm truly shocked we made it this far. We have 33 days until the half marathon and after this weekend I have a feeling those days are going to start flying by.

Like I told you in the last post, I ran on Monday because I was doing something after work yesterday, drinking. I went to happy hour with a friend and can I please tell you how awesome it felt to leave work and not go to the gym. It was AMAZING! I didn't even feel that guilty because I had ran the day before. I'm sure most of you are making fun of us because we're freaking out over running 13.1 miles and it's not even a full marathon, but that's really far. We have been training almost every day for the last 7 weeks and when I took yesterday off, I saw the light. And let me tell you, the light at the end of the tunnel looks really good. It's a world of working out 3 days a week, running 2-3 miles and being able to have a fulfilling social life. I can't wait!!

But for now I'll dream at work of having a life filled with happy hours, workout free days, and not thinking about running a half marathon. I will once again be missing our workout today for a work meeting so I'm being a huge slacker this week. The run tomorrow should be interesting but at least it'll be outside is 54 degree weather!

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!!!

Now, as most of you were either celebrating Valentine's Day or hating it in a dark room eating everything you saw, I was looking forward to today. The day after Valentine's Day is one of the best holidays there is. It comes in at a close second to the day after Halloween. This day, this magical day, is when you can walk into any drug store in the great country of America and all of the candy from Valentine's Day is at least 50% off! They are practically giving it away, shelves and shelves of candy.

I'd like to invite people to share the amazing candy deals they see or indulge in on our blog. I know no one will but as anyone who knows me can tell you, I love a good deal, even if I'm just hearing about it. So pleeease do it!

To talk about our training really quickly, because I have things tonight and tomorrow night I did my 4.5 mile run yesterday. That also may have had something to do with me asking my BF for a cake for Valentine's Day and knowing I was going to gain 5 pounds in one night. Holly will be doing her run today and will hopefully do a post tomorrow.

Happy Day After Valentine's Day Everyone!!!!

Week 6, Day 2

I can't believe we are 6 weeks in and have less than 6 weeks to go in our training. I think I can speak for Holly when I say we are a mixture of nervous and excited for the half marathon at this point. I'm not going to lie, this weather is killing us. The treadmill is getting pretty old and there are only so many episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond a person can watch while running until they break down. We just want to get outside! Thank god it's 15 degrees right now, thanks mother nature. While I'm running few thoughts run through my head, but they all seem to be the same:

- How much longer?
- Why am I doing this?
- If I stop running and get thrown off the treadmill can I quit?
- How much does it hurt to break your ankle because I don't think that can heal in time for the race?
- How many times does Ray have to be a horrible husband to Debra before she leaves him?
- This sucks

So as you can see my PMA (positive mental attitude) is really flowing while I'm running. I hope everyone is praying for an early spring and for us to make it through training!

6 Miles Done!

Sunday marked a momentous occasion. Holly and I ran 6 miles! I haven't run that far in almost 10 years, that's just sad. For those of you who don't live in the NYC, yesterday and today have been right around 40 degrees and after the winter we've been having it feels like it's 60 degrees outside. So Sunday was the perfect day for a long run while the snow that has been ruining every ones lives melted. The down side to melting snow is not just that it looks ugly but that it creates HUGE puddles on flat surfaces like a running path. I felt like I was in a video game running along the path trying to avoid puddles, except instead of loosing a life when I stepped in a puddle, my shoes and socks got soaked. It's the worst feeling ever.

The bad thing is, when I get excited that I just ran 6 miles its not because I just did something that I wasn't able to do a month ago or that we're one step closer to getting ready for the half marathon, it's that now I have just over 600 more calories I can eat today b/c I just burned them. And considering yesterday was the super bowl, 600 extra calories to eat was very easy to find. So I stuffed my face like everyone else at a super bowl party but for the first time I had no guilt about doing it. This is the first positive thing to come out of training! I'm sure at some point there will be a lot more positives, but I'll take what I can get.

Today is a lift and stretch day, so there shouldn't be too much complaining tomorrow.

Week 5, Day 4

I'd like to start this post off by saying that I'm no prude. I've been changing in locker rooms with girls since 7th grade, which is why I know what happened in Boom Fitness last night was not ok. For a little background, normally when I'm done working out I like to leave as soon as possible to go home and die on my couch. I keep my stuff in the front of the locker room (in an unlocked locker which Holly thinks is horrible) because I change at work so I can spend the least amount of time at Boom. So I basically throw my stuff in the locker and go.

After my 4 miler yesterday I was exhausted and just wanted to go home. When I walked in the locker room after my run I turned the corner and there was a naked women right in front of my locker. I have no problem with people changing in the locker room, obviously, that's what it's there for. But I feel like there is an understanding among women that I don't want to see what you have under your towel and you most likely don't want to see what I have. The locker room is full of women of all sizes and shapes so everyone tends to go about their business and then leave. It's not like how guys picture a locker room with hot skinny women walking around naked doing each others hair talking about boys and making out with each other.

It's also an understanding that if you're going to get naked in the locker room, you at least change in an aisle instead of the entrance. But this annoying lady proceeded to change very slowly and positioned herself in a way that I couldn't get to my locker. So I had to ask her to move because apparently being naked makes her very distracted and she didn't see me standing there. After about 30 seconds of pure awkwardness I quickly put on my coat even though my body was 300 degrees from running and got out of there.

This is what Holly and I have to deal with while we're training for the longest run of our lives!!

Week 5, Day 3

We are half way through week 5 and feeling good. Yesterday was a quick 2 mile workout and an attempt at an abs session. As I've told everyone in the past we normally work out on the treadmills on the left side of Boom. Apparently everyone in the world reads our blog and has made the left side the most popular place in Boom Fitness because we were forced to work out on the dreaded right side yesterday. The right side is more exposed to the public because that's where all the skinny girls on the ellipticals go, hence why we don't like it. So we sucked it up and ran our 2 miles (which actually felt kinda hard) on the right side of the gym along with all the skinny people. I'd like to say we fit in, but I think it may be too soon.

Holly might kill me for saying this, but to say that we're awful at ab exercises is an understatement. We went on two machines and then left because there was a kick boxing session getting to close to us, AKA the exercises were too hard and we could only get 2 sets in. The fact that we made an attempt to do them though made me feel good. The gym session ended on a positive note and we are now looking forward (I want to throw up thinking about it) to our 4 mile run and lifting today.

Week 5, Day 1, Part 2

So yesterday after our workout Holly and I had a motivation meeting. We both had tough workout weeks last week and needed to re energize. So we went to Starbucks across from Boom Fitness to talk. After waiting in line for what felt like 20 minutes while a woman fumbled around with change to pay for her coffee, Holly and I ordered. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who walks into Starbucks and gets a water and Holly might be the only person who orders her latte extra hot (but I don't know anything about the coffee world, so that might be normal). After we get our drinks we sit down and start to strategize on how we are going to get this done.

I don't want to say what we talked about while at our super inspiring meeting but I can say that Holly and I are back on track, excited to get this done, and ready to go all out training for the half marathon. Tonight's workout is 4 miles and I just could not be more excited to run it! (that might have been a little sarcastic, but I'm trying.)

Week 5, Day 1, Part 1

First off, I would like to start this blog with some amazing news. Our friends Emily and Mike got engaged this Saturday! Congrats to the both of them! Holly and I are sooo happy for you guys.

But along with this amazing news comes the reason why I did not run my 5 miles yesterday and now have to dread running them all day today. Mike proposed to Emily right before walking in to an amazing surprise engagement party for the both of them that he had put together. Everyone at the party was so happy to be together for such an exciting reason that there was obviously a lot of drinking involved, especially since the open bar started at 7pm. (Sidenote: Dad, I know you're going to read this and call me tonight and tell me to take the post down because I'm talking about drinking, but I promise I'll delete the blog before I look for another job.) The entire night was a blur of dancing, drinking and taking A LOT of pictures. Could not have been more perfect!

Sunday morning I woke up and thought 2 things, obviously, I'm never drinking again, and where can I find the closest Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds. Long story short, we found a Dunkin Donuts, I slept for about 3 hours when I got home and spent the rest of my day on the couch watching Jersey Shore reruns and Kourtney and Kim Take New York.

So since there was no way 5 miles of running was happening yesterday, today I have to suck it up and get it done. Hopefully Holly and I will be getting together today at the gym after over 2 weeks of working out on our own. We're back!

Sorry!

I want to apologize to all our wonderful followers. If you don't live in NYC then you have no idea that we got like 18 inches of snow yesterday so I didn't work out and Holly is still stuck in TX I think. We're a mess right now but are determined to pull it together next week. I will be taking advantage of a built in rest day on Fridays and I am going to work out so hopefully I can get a post done tonight.

Football game tomorrow in 18 inches of snow, hopefully I'll have a winning post to share.

Week Four, Day Two

I'm not going to lie, today was the biggest off day I've had so far. We were suppose to run 3.5 miles but I was only able to run 2.5. Not good! I'm pretty down about it so I thought I'd end the day with a few jokes that made me feel a little bit better.


So there's these 2 muffins in an oven.
And one of them yells "Geez, it's hot in here!"
And the other muffin replies "Holy Crap, a talking muffin!"

Two silk worms were in a race.What was the result? A Tie.

Two flies are on the porch. Which one is the actor? The one on the screen.

Why did the girl fall off the swing? She had no arms.

Why did the book join the police department? So he could work undercover.


Anyway, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Fingers crossed!!

Week Three has come to an end...

Yesterday was our cross-training day and mine consisted of lugging bags around Newark airport. Continental must have known I needed to get some form of exercise in so they decided to move my gate to the other side of the airport and then move us again because our airplane had a cracked windshield. I was out of the apartment at 8am and didn't get to Houston until 5:30pm. Ugh. When I did get to my brother's house in Houston I wanted to take it easy because of the 5-mile run scheduled for today. We went for a quick bite to eat and then I went right to bed.

Although yesterday's travel experience was miserable, it did bring me to Houston which has some real nice weather this time of year. I've been running in 20 degree weather with extreme winds so it was a welcome surprise when I woke up and stepped outside to 60 degrees and sunny.

Houston is a funny place to run, people are so friendly and cars actually stop for you. As I was running, I came to a few intersections where cars definitely had the right of way but they stopped. I almost didn't know what to do so I just waved. Then as I was running, people were waving and say morning ya'll. Like seriously? When I run the streets of New York, cabs intentionally try to hit me and I think people may actually stick their foot out when I am trying to run by. Jerks.

Anyway, back to the run. This was my first 5-mile run so my goal was to get to the 3-mile point and take a short break before finishing up. When I did reach that point, I knew I could keep going so I ended up running the full 5 miles without a break. I was so happy that I ran inside, told my brother, and made him take me to get a latte as a reward. Haha.

This was an amazing start to the day, now the Jets need to win...

Quick Post

Today is a rest day so we don't have much to report on. I would like to share one thing though. Holly and I are both doing this run to raise money for amazing charities that mean a lot to us. Holly is running for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and I am running for Big Brothers Bigs Sisters of New York City. If you have not done so already, please consider donating to our causes by clicking on one of the links below:

Holly's Fundraising Link - Click Here

Laura's Fundraising Link - Click Here

Thank you for all our your support!

Week Three, Day Four

Today at Boom Fitness I was joined not by my training partner Holly who decided to be a rock star and run outside, but by the most interesting and annoying people at Boom Fitness. Everyone knows, when you go to the gym you want to just get in and get out (that's what she said). Tonight I was greeted at the door by a very talkative Boom employee who must not have talked to anyone all day so that when I walked in the door she could tell me how horrible her day was going. After 10 minutes I some how ended the conversation but not after she could say this gem, "Today was horrible but I just got a mani and pedi and feel so much better." Thank God! Not a great start to my workout.

To explain the next person you have to understand the set up of the gym. When you walk into the cardio part of Boom all of the ellipticals are to the right and there is a line of about 15 treadmills against the far wall. Holly and I always go to the corner on the left so our slow running isn't being judged by anyone. When I walked in today there were only 2 other people on the treadmills and they were on the right side. I was so excited, I didn't have to work out right next to someone! But then Miss. I Don't Mind Being In Your Personal Space showed up and went on the treadmill right next to me! There were 12 other treadmills to pick from against an entire wall and she picks the one right next to me. Who does that?! Then, to top everything off, instead of just walking or running she ran and then stopped every single time she got a text or call from someone, which was about every 30 seconds. She was probably the most annoying person to workout next to ever.

Then came lifting. Now, if you know me at all you would know that I hate lifting. I try to avoid picking up basically anything so I won't gain anymore muscle than I did in college. I also hate lifting because at Boom Fitness that is where all the, as Snookie would put it, juice heads hang out. So as I was doing some bench presses with my 5 pound weights, the guy next to me was lifting what looked like at least 200 pounds while screaming out curse words. Like literally just screaming out the F, D, S, C words without anyone saying anything. Long story short, all I did was bench press today.

So after a day at the gym being annoyed by almost every person there, I'm home watching Easy A on our amazing couch, full from an excellent dinner, planning to go to sleep early.

Just another day...

Well hello everyone!! Laura has been taking over posting duties because I've been in Vermont learning how to snowboard. Let me tell you, for those of you who have not tried snowboarding, I would think twice before heading out to the mountains. It was probably one of the most physically demanding things I've ever done - even more demanding than our college workouts. I couldn't even tell you how many times I fell and had to pick myself back up (see video below) and the pain that resulted from my falls. My arms, legs, butt, and abs have been extremely sore to the point where I can barely sit down.



On today's agenda was an easy 2-mile run. I thought this would be great just to get back into the swing of things and also stretch out my muscles. Before I put on my running gear, I went down to the front desk because I had a package there waiting for me. It was from Memorial Sloan-Kettering. I finally got my Fred's Team shirt which I will be wearing on race day! This motivated me even more to get out there despite not feeling 100%. Plus, I'm almost at my goal of $1,000! So, I bundled up and finished my 2 miles. It was tough, I must say, because my legs have been throbbing for the past 4 days but it was good to get a short run under my belt before this weekend's 5-mile run.

Week Three, Day Two

Today was the first day back at the gym after an amazing long weekend thanks to MLK. I'm going to assume that most people who read this blog (all 4 of you, not including my parents) live in NYC and experienced the weather we got yesterday. On days like that the hardest thing about working out is actually getting to the gym. Like Woody Allen said, "Half the battle is showing up." So on my way to the gym I came up with some reasons why I shouldn't be going, and you'd be surprised how easy it was.

1. My feet are getting wet and cold, that might throw off my workout.

2. This gym is so out of the way (2 blocks), I should just workout at home.

3. I forgot an umbrella.

4. Missing one day won't ruin my entire training program.

5. I'm starting to feel a little sick.

6. Our couch at home is really comfortable.

7. Did I tape Teen Mom tonight? I should go home and check.

8. I ate pretty well today, working out wouldn't make a huge difference.

9. Some magazines say getting a lot of sleep is just as important as running the miles you have to, I should go home and take a nap.

10. I walked a lot today, it was probably 3.5 miles.

11. Can I get out of this Half Marathon thing somehow?

12. 3.5 miles sounds hard.

Even though I came up with some really great excuses to not go to the gym, I ended up going and finishing my 3.5 miles only walking once at the 2.5 mile mark for 2 minutes!!! Have a great day and I hope you're enjoying this beautiful weather as much as I am.

Week THREE!!!!

I can't believe we've made it through 2 weeks and are now beginning our third week of training. It feels like just yesterday Holly and I were eating pizza and drinking talking about how awful it would be to run a half marathon and how stupid people are who do it. Even after 2 weeks of training I think we would still agree on that statement

Yesterday I went on a 4 mile run along the Hudson River on my way to Street Meat's 2nd football game of the winter season. The run went pretty well but I can't say the same for the football game. The vibe of the team once the game started felt a little off. This continued through the entire first half, ending with us down by 16. During half time, no one had much to say and everyone's PMAs (Positive Mental Attitudes) were almost nonexistent. In the second half we finally scored a touchdown but by the time we did there was no coming back. The game ended and we had officially lost to the Flying Pink Popped Collars. Let me say that again, we lost to a team called the Flying Pink Popped Collars! After the lose everyone parted ways not being able to grasp what just happened.

Today I have off from work and Holly is coming back from Vermont, so the training team will be back together with way better posts and stories tomorrow. Today's training is just lifting and stretching so I may be doing that in my apartment considering the high for today is suppose to be 28 degrees!! Gotta love NYC in the winter.

I hope you're not at work reading our blog today!! Happy MLK Day Everyone!

Week Two, Day 6

While Holly is up in Vermont begin a snow bunny, I'm here in NYC trying to stay motivated to work out while my partner is gone. Today was a 30 minute cross training day. Unfortunately I slacked off and walked for my cross train. Even though I slacked I will say my workout wasn't boring. I got to walk with my boyfriend and his best friend while they talked about sports, working out, and best of all, is it faster walking to Union Square from our apartment or taking the subway? Most people would say, how is that an argument, of course the subway is faster. Somehow the conversation lasted over a half hour and looking back on it, I don't think there was ever an agreed upon answer.

Tomorrow is suppose to be a 4 mile run but I will be running to our football game which is 5 miles and then playing in the game. I promise tomorrow's post will be a little bit more interesting and will hopefully include a picture of winners after the game.

Week Two Day 4!

Yesterday was my rest day so I have nothing really to report on the half marathon training..... but I do have a confession!!!

After I posted on the blog on Tuesday night about not getting my ipod back and then praising my boyfriend for getting me a new one, the phone rang. I like to think it rang because every employee at Boom Fitness reads our blog, but I think he just works the night shift. The guy I talked to the night before at the gym called and told me that they found my ipod and I could pick it up tomorrow. Oops! I attempted to keep the phone call to myself, but living in NYC you can imagine our apartment isn't very big and you can hear everything that's going on. When I walked back into the room my boyfriend's face looked so defeated. He tried to do something nice and it blew up in his face. Then to top things off, of course I was so excited about my new ipod, within an hour I had already opened it and loaded all my songs on it so it couldn't be returned.

Anyway, now I have 2 ipods, an annoyed boyfriend, and 3 miles to run today. Crazy how things can change so fast.

Day Threeeeeeeeeee of Week Two!!

So today was another easy day for us half-marathoners. It was our cross-training day. Typically during cross-training days, we have the option of riding a bike, going on the elliptical, or even just walking. Laura decided to ride the bike at Boom Fitness and I decided to go for a long walk down the slushy streets of New York. Slipping and sliding definitely stretches out the muscles. From 57th and Park, I walked all the way down to Union Square (15th and Broadway). In the city, 20 blocks or 8 avenues is considered 1 mile. You do the math because I am tired of numbers.

During this whole process, I've been trying to eat healthy and lay off the booze. Unfortunately, I live with Julia Child (a.k.a. my roommate Jessica) and she made the most ridiculous mushroom lasagna. I am now in a food coma sitting here with Jessica's friends. It's actually pretty cool because they all work at Memorial Sloan-Kettering which is the beneficiary of all your donations.

On another note, I am preparing for a weekend of intense snowboarding...on the bunny slopes. I'll be traveling to Vermont to visit my friend Kristin and snowboard for the first time. This will be my cross-training for Saturday if I don't get hurt on my first attempt.

Today's post wasn't too exciting but thanks for following :)

Week Two, Day Two

Today was a day I was almost looking forward to. Holly and I have been running for over a week and I was excited to get on the treadmill and run 3 miles without being tired. Of course, the world had other plans for me....

After my workout yesterday I left my ipod nano at the gym. I tried not to freak out and called the gym. No one had turned in an ipod. I called 3 more times and asked when I got to Boom and still, no ipod. So during lunch I went to get new headphones at Rite Aid by my work and come to find out while I was running today... they SUCK. Maybe the worst headphones ever.

Then, while I was changing at work I realized I totally forgot my Nike+ watch that tells me how far I'm running and calculates my speed and then manages everything on my computer. I can't catch a break today!! So after I get over how mad at myself I am, I motivate myself to walk in the 25 degree weather to Boom Fitness. When I get there and ask about my ipod at the front desk, I get so distracted I forget to pick up a towel. I didn't realize I forgot a towel until I get on the treadmill and start running. DAMNIT! I don't stop and continue to run my 3 miles dripping in sweat whipping my forehead with my shirt.

But.... as I'm sitting here writing my blog complaining about everything, my wonderful boyfriend walks in the door and says he has a surprise me. Last night my surprise was Pretzel M&Ms which is by far my favorite candy ever, so that was going to be hard to top. He opens the bag and......he got me an IPOD!!!!! Best boyfriend ever!!!

Now it's time for the UConn game, Go Huskies!!!

Week Two - Day One

Well every one, I have been MIA and Laura has had to cover my blog duties. After Thursday's 3-mile run and lifting session, I just didn't have the energy to write a post. Don't worry, it won't happen again. But I must tell you what happened on Thursday because it was a good day. Laura and I completed the full 3 miles without taking one break!! It was an accomplishment for us and I was really happy about it. Although, one guy at Boom Fitness did rain on our parade by telling us we were cheating because we didn't go down all the way on our bicep curls. I guess he didn't read my earlier post which clearly states that we are chronic cheaters when it comes to hitting the weights. By the way, this is the second time we've done a lifting work out at Boom Fitness and also the second time we've gotten accused of cheating. I'm seeing a pattern.

Any way, I missed our 4-mile run on Sunday because I was in Jersey so I had to do it today. I won't lie, it's pretty cold in New York right now so when I got home from work, I put on my Under Armour ColdGear and headed outside. The run started off well but then it got darker and darker which meant it got colder and colder. My legs were literally shivering as I was running up and down the East River. I got through about 2.22 miles (I have one of those watches that can figure out mileage) and took a short break. Then I got back at it. I finished the 4 miles and as soon as I got home, I fell to the ground. This is what my roommate, Jessica, saw when she got home...

I might have been on the ground for a good 10 minutes before regaining consciousness.

While I write this, Laura is probably finishing up her light lifting work out. Monday's are supposed to be relatively easy because of the long run on Sunday. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for me. Tomorrow we have a 3-mile run and I plan on doing my lifting tomorrow as well.

One Week Down!

Today was the day I have been dreading all week. For some reason three miles seems hard but doable but four miles, that just sounds horrible. After a rough start this morning waking up on the late side, I got my life together and made myself a nice breakfast of eggs and a sausage and then only 20 minutes later went for my 4 mile run. That was my first mistake. I literally have NOTHING to do today, but still felt the need to wait only 20 minutes after having a grease filled breakfast and go on the longest run I've ever gone on since high school. Second mistake, stopping to walk at the half way mark for a minute. My entire body literally cramped up from the cold and wanted to shut down. I still had 2 miles to go! The run would have been so much easier if I had just slowed down to a jog or done anything besides stopping and then walking.

On the bright side, I got to see way too many men wearing long spandex who should not even be going into stores that have long spandex for men in them. I also got a taste of what the marathon is going to be like by having a homeless man sitting on the bike path on the east river cheering runners on. But I doubt the people cheering for me at the marathon would call me sweetheart and tell me I have a nice ass. Although I wouldn't be mad if they did.

Tomorrow is a day of just lifting so hopefully Holly and I can pump some iron without being told by some tool at Boom Fitness that we are doing bicep curls wrong. Have a great end of the weekend!

Day Six

First, I would like to apologize to all of our loyal blog followers. I know most of you wake up every morning and rush to your computers to see what funny thing Laura and Holly have come up with to talk about on their blog to help get you through the day. I would like to promise missing days of blogging won't happen again, but I'm not sure I can do that.

We didn't post on Friday because as you all know from looking at our training calendar, Fridays are rest days unless we miss a workout during the week. Today, Saturday, was a cross training day so instead of doing the usual walking or biking, I played football for my Zog Sports team named Street Meat. This afternoon we played a team named the Giants in the frozen tundra that is Roosevelt Island. The turf field was completely covered in snow which I would like to think made my workout even more effective because we were basically running in sand. After a tough played first half against a team at least twice our size with a policeman and fireman on it we were only down by one touchdown. After inspirational speeches by almost every guy on our team during half time, we came back on the field in the second half immediately scoring by doing Russo's speciality. After a long bomb thrown down the field by Morgan to Russo the game was tied. Quickly after that we went up by a touchdown and the rest is history. After the game we all refueled with mozzarella sticks and are looking forward to a night full of football and hopefully a dance party or two.

Tomorrow is our first 4 mile run outside so I'm going to attempt to keep my drinking to a minimum (unlikely). I'm sure there will be a lot of hungover complaining in tomorrow's blog, so hopefully it'll be a good one. Have a great Saturday Night!

Day Three

Day Two was a rough one so it was time for Holly and I to look forward to an easy workout. After complaining to each other all day and coming up with a million metaphors for how sore we were, it was off to the place where the damage was done. Since all we did was ride the bike for 30 minutes I don't have too much to report on our experience. We did get to hear a woman who obviously thought she was Celine Deon sing while on the elliptical, but that was about it.

While we were on the bike, Holly read up on how all the celebrities are staying trim in US Magazine. She read about how Ali from the bacheolorette lost 10 pounds training for a half marathon that is a year away. So glad we gave ourselves less than three months. I passed the time by listening to The Hunger Games, my first book on tape ever. I read somewhere that books on tape are a good way to pass the time on long distance runs, so far it's working.

After our bike ride we were planning on doing abs or at least stretching, but after seeing that there were no mats for us to use in the most convenient part of the gym, we decided to just go home. We're so motivated!

Before I end the post I would like to say thank you to Janet McCormick for helping us post our workout calendar and donate links which you can now find on the right side of the screen. Thank You!

Day Two.....

After a rather easy Day One,I knew Day Two was going to be a bit harder. Unfortunately, I was mistaken, because it was a lot harder. For starters, Laura and I haven't really been hitting the pavement much so 3 miles wasn't going to be an easy task. Plus, we had just done some light lifting the day before and like Laura said in her last post, our legs were reaaalllyyy sore. It was actually pathetic. I remember the days at UConn when we would "max" out with 45 lbs. on each end of the barbell (we were the non-lifters on our respective teams so for us that was heavy). Well guess what? We only did body squats yesterday. Yes, body squats and we cannot move our legs. Pathetic. So getting back to the run. Throughout the day, I was IMing Laura asking her why the day was going by so slow and just mentioning how much I was dreading the 3-mile run. She was also complaining. But we did have some laughs discussing our new training blog. Any way, the clock hits 4:30pm and I'm out of the office on my way downtown to 34th and Park, the location of Boom Fitness. I hop into the locker room, drop off my stuff, and head over to the treadmills. I'm walking slow, contemplating turning back, but then I see our very own Laura Trzasko on the treadmill pounding it out (with her new Nike+ shoes). I hop up on the treadmill next to her and she's already 6 minutes into her work out. This was our first run so we didn't want to completely overdo it so our goal was to get to 1.5 miles and then take a very short break before starting up again. Well we both got to 2.5 miles, took a one-minute break, and then finished off. After completing the 3-mile run, we high-fived like nerds and went to stretch. The stretching part was painful and as I sit on my couch writing this post, I am still feeling a sharp pain in my quads. Little did I know that my quad muscles were still there...I was starting to think my legs were made of jello :(

Now I know this is a very detailed post but not only should it amuse you but it also keeps us in check. Reminds us of where we started and hopefully, where we can get to. Laura...Day Three is all yours.

Day One!!

So my friend Holly and I have been on a mission for years to get in shape and be "skinny mini's" since our days at UConn where freshman year we ate more than the people on Biggest Loser combined. Apparently you won't lose weight if you eat 3 meals a day at an all you can eat dining hall full of cheeseburgers, pizza, pasta, cheesecakes, and the most amazing cookies anyone has ever had. Even being Division 1 athletes didn't stop us from putting on the freshman 15. After many attempts at trying to lose weight and failing, Holly and I have now signed up for a program that will force us to get in shape, or we might die, the NYC Half-Marathon. Now if you ask me, looking back on this decision, it might actually be the dumbest thing we've ever done. Not only have we signed up for this run, but people are donating money for us to do it, so there is literally no way out.


This is a picture of Holly and I on Halloween at UConn probably about 5 years ago. I'm pretty sure you can only go up from that picture.

After much anticipation Day One finally happened and I'm not going to lie, I'm sitting in my chair at work almost in tears because I'm so sore and I never want to have to use my leg muscles to get up. So I would say Day One was a success! After some light cardio, we really pushed ourselves and walked for 10 minutes (I'm sure that will help us run a half-marathon), and then Holly and I lifted for basically the first time since UConn. When I touched that weight for the first time to do a bench press, I almost threw up. All the flash backs of trainers screaming in my face, the feeling of pushing myself physically further than I thought I ever could and the constant feeling that I was either going to throw up or just sit down and cry hit me. It took a minute to put all of those awful memories behind me, but after I did our work out wasn't too bad. We had one minor incident when a guy came up to us and told us we were cheating on our ab workout, but after we explained to him that we didn't care and we couldn't do the exercise without cheating, he left us alone.

We ended Day One the best way we knew how, SHOPPING! I purchased new running shoes that I will be debuting today for our first 3 mile run and Holly and I both got an amazing Nike fleece that we're going to wear for our first outside run together on Sunday. Tomorrow Holly will post about our Day Two experience, and it should be interesting because I can't remember the last time either of us ran 3 miles.