Silly Me...

I went to London last weekend and took my own peppermint tea bags....  Really, who takes their own tea to Britain the epitome of all things related to tea.

So, I usually put a store bought tea bag in a cup of boiling hot water.  The British steep fresh mint leaves in boiling water in a pretty little tea pot with tea cup and saucer.  I even had to stick my pinky out for the picture, it just felt appropriate.

Fun stuff Jen and I did: Lot's of shopping - including 2 days worth of markets (Portobello Markets in Nottinghill and my favorite Camden Markets.) Fish and Chips, an abundant amount of Indian food, plus other ethnic delights.  The musical Mamma Mia. London Parks. Also met my second cousin and her family for the first time too.  It was a different trip, I didn't even see the Thames, Big Ben, London Eye, Tower of London, the Palace.... none of it!  No tourist sites.

However, I do need to go back.  I forgot to buy a British Tea Pot, cup and saucer for when my new mint plant grows leaves fit for steeping.

Happy New Year!

After spending a nice Christmas in TX we braved the crowds and spent the weekend of NYE (New Years Eve) in NYC (New York City.)  We made it to Time Square 12 hours early, the crowds were already thick and frankly we just weren't adventurous enough to spend the next 12 hours trying to maintain a spot and hope no one needed to use the restroom. 

So we played around the city instead.  Saw lot's of police getting ready for the night, they were all over!!!!

We took a break over dinner and relaxed for a few hours before heading out for the night.  We decided to head to a party in Central Park (my favorite park in the world! - and I'm not just saying that, it really is.)  Emerald Nuts and NYRR were hosting a midnight race with pre race party etc.  We hung out enjoying the atmosphere and dancing to stay warm.  

At midnight we had the count down, did our kissing and JV, EV and I took off for the start of the Midnight Race.  It was a 4 mile loop through Central Park with over 6000 runners.  We had so much fun!!!  Great energy and atmosphere!  There were fireworks over head for the first few miles and lot's of people cheering us on. Non-timed race, however, if you are vying for the NY Marathon by running eligible NYRR races this one counts.

I tried taking pictures of us during the race on my phone, (when I wasn't talking on it - wishing people a Happy New Year.)  JV ran with out a shirt, just a scarf.... the announcers had some fun commenting about the shirtless runner.

Post race, EV wasn't feeling too good.  He needed to use a porta-potty pre-race but didn't.... rookie mistake.

Totally fun night!  Thanks for hosting us Jen and joining us Beth.

At the end of the night every one went to bed and JV and I went to check out the after math of Times Square.

It was a mess!

Pretty much deserted, but trash and junk every where!

Amazingly the crews were out and they were cleaning up, by the time we walked through Time Square they had already cleaned up two blocks and were moving on.  The entire city was like this, before and after.  It was a well oiled machine with security, police, traffic control, (foot traffic and street traffic,) barricades, clean up, every thing plus all the entertainment and events on top of it all.

Happy 2012!

It's gonna be a great year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thoughts this morning:

I am grateful for family, friends, relationships.  

A healthy and able body.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Opportunities.

Not a Runner?

I haven't posted for a long time, (I have a job now) but wanted to share about E's race on Saturday morning.  This is the second year of the CASA Kids 5k.  Both years E's Boy Scout troop has volunteered to camp out overnight at the race site so that the race organizers can set everything up the night prior and not worry about vandals.  This year I asked E if he was going  to run it seeing he was going to be there.  He said "No."   After staying up late, sleeping on the ground, freezing cold, (he assumed it would be hot so didn't bring a sleeping bag and had nothing but an extra shirt to cover his legs during the night,) he took off on his first 5k.  Twenty minutes and fifty seconds later he finished in 5th place.  Although he wasn't registered - so it didn't count.  He also wasn't eligible for the 1st place, $50 gift certificate in the under 19 age group.

Regardless, there was a message on the answering machine that morning calling to tell us how he did in the race.  He must have felt pretty good about himself, he called us with out any prompting from us at all!

Three Words To Exercise By

Back in 1988 Nike’s advertising campaign coined an iconic slogan when they launched the Just Do It campaign.  As far as I know, they didn’t receive any awards for this stroke of genius, however, in my opinion they should have won a Pulitzer price.  Those three words are not only writing genius, they speak volumes.  A message each of us should take to heart and remind ourselves of on a daily basis.  Just Do It!

How much time do we spend thinking about the next work out we plan on doing?  Or even guiltily regretting the work out we recently intended to do but missed?  As a personal trainer I have probably heard every excuse in the book, (I’ve even used a few myself.)  Health issues, injuries, too busy, too expensive, too tired, too hard, too intimidating, too sore, too old, I’ll go too-morrow… the list goes on.

Intellectually we know all the reasons to exercise, the benefits manifest physically, socially, mentally, emotionally even spiritually.  Secretly we fantasize about our potentially strong healthy bodies.  But a very small percentage of us actually achieve the level of fitness we desire.  Are you motivated yet?  Motivation is the force that drives you to achieve your goals; it comes as an instinct from within or as the promise of external reward.  Unfortunately sometimes the excuses outweigh the motivation.  We talk our way out of becoming the stronger, better version of ourselves that we potentially can be.  Are we are own worst enemies?

My Challenge to you, stop thinking about what you want to do, or become.  Just Do It!  If you feel like you could use some extra motivation, your YMCA Personal Training staff are eager to use their expertise to help you take your fitness goals to the next level.  Now is the time – Just Do It!  Become the best version of yourself.  Granted I won’t be awarded any Pulitzer’s for this article, and I’m pretty sure that the Just Do It advertising campaign probably didn’t get a mention at the award banquets of 1988.  However, regardless, let those three simple words have an impact on your exercise regime, stop thinking about it and - Just Do It!

 

This Just In.....

I got emotional just watching the trailer.... The final installment. I'm guessing a lot people (non HP fans) are eager for this era to end. When we leave the theaters July 14th at 2:something in the morning it will all be over.