I hesitated for a moment but decided I needed to do this. Before my swim on Saturday, I stepped on the scale at Equinox Bethesda.
Down 6 pounds.
I was having lunch with my colleague Sarah Budds the Tuesday after D.C. Rock n Roll when Sarah told me about an article she had just read in the New York Times about a guy who starts every day with a cold shower.
Read More“It’s a hill,” the sign read as I approached Calvert Street from Beach Drive.
“Get over it.”
That hill is also the spot where volunteers from Wear Blue to Remember line the marathon race route honoring the legacy of fallen service members. They carry photos of loved ones and American flags on heavy poles. They offer high fives to runners as we scramble up the hill.
I saw the sign just as I passed the last volunteer and lifted my head.
Yeah man, get over it.
Read More“Just go do something else.”
I was 1 mile into my long run last Sunday when it occurred to me I’m still having the same conversation in my head a year after running the D.C. Rock n Roll Half Marathon, my first half marathon. It was a miserable day that day in Washington in March 2015. There was a steady downpour and the air was cold and raw. I was soaked, my phone was soaked. My gloves were soaked. Yeah I was exuberant at the finish but I couldn’t move my fingers they were so cold.
Read MoreI'll tell you my one great business idea.
When we travel - and sometimes our journeys can be 15 hours or more, like mine is right now - we still eat and drink and in many airports we can shop for real, get our nails done, and even sleep if we can get a pass to one of the better airport lounges. When we travel we still make it a point to take care of our basic needs.
Except exercise...
Read MoreIf you were around New Year’s Eve on December 31, 1999, just before the Millennium, you probably approach the week between Christmas and New Years’ Eve with caution.
Read MoreHere is what I know now. Being an athlete is about being resilient.
If I had thought I wouldn’t be able to finish the Reggae Marathon on Saturday, my first marathon, I would have canceled the trip. So even though I didn’t feel 100 percent, I trusted my training, stuck to the plan, and arrived in Negril on Wednesday evening. For the five days I packed two suitcases...
I was half watching the Redskins – Giants game in my kitchen when I happened to turn my full attention to the TV screen just as the Giants’ Odell Beckham made that catch. My house was quiet after the long Thanksgiving weekend. It had been wonderful having everyone home, and cooking for 24 was therapy for the stress I was feeling as I continue to rehab my hamstring.
I’m a Ravens fan but since I’m originally from New York I’m also a Giants fan. I had my laptop open, and I was thinking about my plan to get ready for my run in Jamaica on Saturday.
But that catch?...
Read MoreMy race in Jamaica on December 5 is one of the 100s of marathons happening every year all over the world for regular-people runners like me. So if I skip it there will be another one around the corner. Maybe not in Negril but probably in some other beautiful place.
But when I heard, and then felt, my left hamstring snap on Friday morning during my run with the Nike Run Club in London, I wanted to know right away whether I could heal in 3 weeks...
Read MoreEven if you run, or exercise, on your own, as I typically do, you have numerous opportunities to engage in breezy conversations one-on-one with people who want to talk about YOU.
Ok so they’re professional people and you pay them but still. For me, that would include my trainer, my running coach, my physical therapist, my nutritionist, my doc(s).
Read More“Happy with your performance?”
It was a simple, yes-or-no, question, from Kevin McGuinness, my physical therapist, in a text message after the Brooklyn Half, but it caught me off guard.
I’m used to people asking me how I feel after a race or how I felt during a race. These are the questions I ask myself...
Read MoreI was having a conversation with a friend who asked me how I’m able to keep up an exercise regimen 6 days a week.
I exercise before work, setting my alarm for 4:30 and getting to the gym by 5:15 or the track by 6:00 am. So her question is a good one. At least half of the time I am fighting the alarm and trying to talk myself into the benefits of sleeping in just this once.
But I don’t.
Read MoreMy official finish at the Parks Half Marathon on Sunday was 2:43:43.
The morning started out rainy and chilly but by the first mile the sun came out and it was a gorgeous, perfect day for a race. After running 2 miles on Veirs Mill Rd in Rockville we wound our way south along the Rock Creek Stream Valley, passing the Audubon Society sanctuary, and through Dewey Park and Ken-Gar Palisades Park to Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, finishing up on the Georgetown trail into Bethesda.
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