Taking Baby Steps... On My Head

When people find out that I practice yoga, they often assume that I do it for fitness & toning. They ask me questions like "which yoga is best for losing weight" or "can you show me some yoga poses that will tone my arms or abs". Those questions tend to catch me off guard and I often take a moment to think how I might respond. Because to be honest, that's just not what my yoga practice is about.

My practice has always focused more on strengthening my mind than strengthening my body. Sure, I've noticed more muscle tone and overall strength throughout the years and yoga has definitely helped my running. But more important to me is the peace of mind, courage, and emotional strength my practice has provided to help face my fears and conquer new challenges.

Back in February, I wrote a short post about inversions because I had finally gathered the courage to hang out upside down after years of dreading it. I'd always found it scary and uncomfortable. But in class one day, Julia, my favorite instructor, spoke to us about letting go of labels and challenged us to not define ourselves during our practice. I'd always thought of myself as a yogi who didn't do inversions and as long as I defined myself in that way, I was confined by my fears. That day, I did my first inversion, Salamba Sirsasana (supported headstand) against a wall. And I LOVED it!!! I began incorporating inversions into every home yoga session, eventually trying Pincha Mayurasana (forearm stand) against a wall, and soon even pulling myself away from the wall even if only for a few seconds.

Last week, I stumbled upon a picture of Scorpion Pose and instantly fell in lust. I'm sure I've seen this pose before but having previously defined myself as someone who would never do it, I never even considered the possibility. This time, I not only considered it but couldn't stop thinking about it. And so was born a new goal: Scorpion Pose. I don't expect to accomplish this overnight or even in the next few weeks or months; this may take years. But I'm happily embracing the challenge because I know that it's something I'm doing for myself, to build strength and focus, and to prove to myself that I can do anything.

Scorpion Pose

For my first baby step, I've been practicing inversions without leaning on a wall. It's just me, my head, my shoulders, my back, my arms, my wrists, my core, my everything upside down on that mat. And I'm making progress... I can now stand on my head. I feel like a rock star.

Kneel on the floor and place your forearms on your mat, interlacing your fingers and pressing your wrists to 
the ground. Cradle the crown of your head in your palms.

Widen your shoulders and back, increasing the distance between your shoulder blades to create a strong
foundation and prevent injury to your neck.

Side View

Inhale, lift your knees off the floor and carefully walk your feet closer to your elbows with your heels lifted. 
Keep your shoulder blades firm on your back and maintain the length of your torso.

Exhale, lightly hop off the floor and lift both feet. Your goal should be to lift both knees at the same time- as you can see, I am still working on this. Use your core strength to lift your legs, pressing your tailbone against the back of your pelvis.

Keep your weight even between your forearms, pressing your shoulder blades against your back and keeping your torso lengthened with your tailbone reaching towards your heels. Your inner thighs should be turned in slightly and your feet should be flexed (more that I need to work on )

Like I said, baby steps. Thoughts? Tips? Goals or challenges of your own? Please, inspire me!

Hamptons Getaway

I've known Michelle and Rachel for more than 20 years. We all met in sleepaway camp, Rachel and Michelle first and then I came along. They are my two best friends, the kind of women who are there for me no matter what and no matter when. They are my sisters, my friend soul-mates. We've slept in the same bunk, hiked through Israel together, and shared an apartment our first year as college graduates living in NYC. But until this past weekend, we've never gone away together, just the three of us.

This past weekend was a big one in my life. For personal reasons I won't go into details but will acknowledge that without them, it could've been a difficult one. But my ladies came to the rescue and we planned a girlfriend getaway to the Hamptons.  Michelle provided the location, a stunning farm house in Watermill, NY owned by her in-laws and purchased from Julie Andrews! It was the perfect weekend full of smiles, laughter, wine and good food, relaxation, and intimate conversation.

The Barn. Julie Andrews used to throw fabulous dinner parties in this barn!

Secret Sculpture Garden

Michelle and I took a long walk and found a beautiful farmers market where we picked up fresh fruit.
The figs were divine!

The pool and view of the farmland. Serene & beautiful.

It took us over an hour to make this simple salad! But we were having too much fun chopping veggies and throwing them around to notice.

Lunch coming together: salad, chickpea salad and falafel chips. Delicious!

Michelle & Rachel

Lunch is served!

Goofing around

Yeah, we're hot! {hee, hee}

A great weekend with great friends! Now time to plan our next getaway... any ideas?

Week in Review

After blogging for just a few short months, I am officially in awe of all you bloggers who post every day. Or even every other day. How do you do it?!?! Yes, the ideas swarm my brain and I fully intend to put them out there for all the world to see. But somehow, life takes over and before I know it, it's midnight and I'm still eating dinner or stretching after my run. So, this week I've decided to lump a bunch of happenings into one post for my week in review. And it was a mighty fine week!

1. Core Fusion Rocks!
I know I said "week" in review and this actually occurred last week but I'm sticking it in here anyway cause it's my blog and I want to! Last Thursday I was lucky enough to join an incredible group of women at a Core Fusion class organized by the beautiful Dori from Dori's Shiny Blog. I loved this class!!! It was held at Exhale Spa on the Upper East Side and it kicked my ass! I woke up the next morning feeling sore all over with the realization that if I could take this class even just once a week, I would have the buns of steel I've always dreamed of. My favorite portions of the class included the arms, abs, and of course the thighs and tushy. And the best part was getting to meet an incredible and inspirational group of women, many of whom share the same passions as I do. I even met another runner who's training for the Philly Marathon and we've already made plans to do a long run together. Woohoo! Here are some pictures of the class, along with a short video showing some of the Core Fusion arm toning moves that I loved so much. Definitely check out the other ladies blogs from the links I've included below for more recaps and other great posts!

Dori toning her tush

Some of the wonderful women I met, from left to right: Angela from A Healthy Fit, Rebecca, Ilana from Happy Healthy Hottie, Missy from Missy Maintains, Me, Nicole from Making Good Choices, Dori and Maggie from Say Yes to Salad.  

2. Long Run with Samantha!
This week I also finalized my marathon training schedule. You can check it out here if you feel so inclined. As of today there are 93 days to go until the big race! I am beyond excited! Anyway, this past weekend I ran with another person for the first time and I loved it. I must admit, I was nervous and apprehensive at first. What if I was too slow? What if I held them back? So many what ifs. But Samantha was awesome, we got along right away, and we were both amazed to find that we matched each other's pace perfectly the entire way. Check out Samantha's blog, Push Thru Philly, to follow her training and inspiration!

3. Sailing the Seven Seas... or just around Manhattan

I went sailing for the first time on Tuesday and may have found a new favorite thing to do. This was a work trip and it was a beautifulcrazy hot day! Our group met in downtown NYC, boarded a lovely boat, and spent 3 hours taking in the view, enjoying some cold beverages, and eating delicious treats.  If you're ever in NYC and would love a different view of the city, including a close up of Lady Liberty, check out Atlantic Sail and Charter.

Sailing Shenanigans! That's me joking with David, my boss man.

Hanging with Lady Liberty

4. I got My Nose Pierced! (mom & dad if you're reading this, SURPRISE!)
See? Told you it was a busy week! I've been wanting to pierce my nose since I was 16 years old and it only took me 16 years to do it. I got pierced by Evan at Adorned in the East Village and it was awesome. Evan was super sweet and calming, did an excellent job, and it didn't hurt one bit. A huge thank you to my incredible friend E for meeting me there and holding my hand! So, what do you think?

5. And for the grand finale (drum roll please).... I got a Garmin!!!!!
I am officially in love with my Garmin 405. Here is my daily mile entry from my first run with my big guy last night

And here are the comments on that post

Enough said!

And now I'm on my way to the Hamptons for a girls weekend with my two bestest friends Michelle and Rachel. We've known each other for 20 years, these ladies have been my rock through the hardest of times, and I truly love them both more than I could ever express. I am so lucky to have them in my life and am so excited for this weekend!

Have a fabulous weekend and until my next post, be well & happy!

My Incredible Muscles & Training Updates

First things first, a funny moment. I took a peak at the Feedjit live traffic feed for my blog the other day to see who's been visiting and how they arrive. Typically, most people arrive from Daily Mile, Twitter, Facebook or obvious and relevant google searches. I couldn't help but crack up when I saw the google search that led one New Yorker to Erica Miss America the other day.  Do you see it highlighted in bright pink?

"her incredible muscles"???? Not sure about that... too funny!

Now onto real business: Marathon Training. I'd like to thank everyone for their awesome support & great feedback regarding my initial schedule. It seems that I still had plenty of work to do and your feedback confirmed lots of my suspicions. Here is the latest and greatest.

Based on some stellar advice from The Running Laminator, my marathon Coach, (yes I now have a Coach!!! more on that in a later post) as well as your comments and emails, and my experiences during the first few weeks of training, I've made the following revisions:

1.  Moved my cross training to Tuesday. It seems that kickboxing is just not a good idea the day before my long run. Luckily for me, my favorite instructor also teaches classes on Tuesday!
2. Added a little more variety to my midweek run by mixing up the mileage a bit
3. Added another yoga day before some of my longer midweek runs to prevent burnout
4. Fit in another long weekend run. A HUGE THANK YOU to another incredibly supportive and awesome runner friend for figuring out those long runs for me!!! It would've been a huge pain in the ass without him!

Every time I take a look at my schedule, I'm slightly shocked that there will be Sundays where a majority of my day will involve running, icing, eating and napping. But I'm excited & ready for it! Only 97 days to go... bring it on!!!

Scenes from a Sunday Evening

There's something incredible about dancing just for the sake of dancing, letting loose, letting your hair down and just getting down. Especially when you're doing it in the middle of Central Park, in the pouring rain, and with a bunch of strangers who are just there to have a good time. And so went my Sunday night. Life is good.

Gobo: Food for the (Gluten Free) Five Senses

It's been more than 7 years since I was diagnosed with Celiac and I've definitely gotten used to the diet. I no longer really think about eating gluten free and don't miss most foods. But I REALLY REALLY REALL miss going out & enjoying a cold beer. Sure, I could have a cocktail or a beautiful glass of wine and I often do. But there are just those times when you want to chillax and catch up with a good friend over a beer.

Luckily for me, more and more NYC restaurants that serve gluten free food have also begun to serve gluten free beer! So when my fabulous friend Michele suggested we go out for drinks and dinner and was looking for some suggestions, of course I picked a place with incredible gluten free food & beer. Michele, a former colleague who quickly became a great friend, enjoys good food almost as much as I do and was really excited when I suggested we meet up at Gobo, a vegan restaurant with locations in the West Village and the Upper East Side.

If you're ever in NYC and need a great place to eat, I highly recommend Gobo. I've been to both locations and prefer the West Village location to the Upper East Side because I like the vibe a bit better. But both serve incredible vegan food with lots of gluten free options. And of course, gluten free beer.  The only thing better than the food was the company- love you Michele!

West Village Location

Me, lovingly staring at my Bards Beer

My meal, the Grilled Oyster Mushrooms with Asparagus and Garlic. It's my favorite!!!

Michele's Ginger Seitan

Hot (it was 90 something degrees!), happy & full of delicious food!

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins (Gluten Free & Vegan)

Don't you just love unexpected gifts? The other night, a friend of mine showed up at my doorstep (ok, at my doorman), with a great book about living a gluten-free lifestyle. Of course, since I've been gluten free for over 7 years, they knew I didn't necessarily need the book. But they had a chance to scroll through it at Mrs. Green's grocery store and thought it might have some useful information. Turns out they were right!

Celiac Diease and Living Gluten-Free: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed by Jules E. Dowler Shepard is full of awesome information including how to handle dinner parties when you're the guest, tips on eating out, and some really great recipes. I'm especially excited to try the recipe for gluten free Challah since my attempts in preparation for the Jewish Holidays have been complete failures every year for the last 5 years! The book also includes a recipe for a gluten free flour mixture that Shepard claims can replace regular flour in just about any recipe out there. Why not give it a try, right?

Since I've had Lemon-Blueberry muffins on my mind for the last few weeks, I decided they would be the perfect excuse to try out Jules's Nearly Normal All-Purpose Flour Mix. You can find Jules's flour mix recipe here. The recipe makes four cups and although the muffins only call for 1 3/4 cups of flour, I prepped all 4 cups and have stored the leftovers in my refrigerator for my next baking experiment. The only substitute I made was brown rice flour for the white rice flour in an attempt to add some sort of nutritional value.

For the muffins, I adapted a Food & Wine recipe to use the gluten free flour and to make it vegan. I also replaced the vegetable oil with applesauce. The muffins came out beautifully & are delicious! They're not too sweet and have a lovely but not overpowering lemon flavor. And the texture is wonderful: light & cakey with gooey blueberries.  I'll definitely be using this flour mix again!

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Food & Wine
makes 12 muffins

1 3/4 cups Jules's Nearly Normal Gluten-Free Flour Mix
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
2 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
equivalent of 2 eggs replacers
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Prepare your muffin tin with liners or lightly spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour mix, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the blueberries and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg replacer, almond milk, applesauce, lemon zest and lemon juice.
Gently fold the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until well combined.

Distribute the batter evenly in the muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing and placing them on a rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Countdown to Philly!

Yes, I've been MIA for about a month now. And so much has happened in the last month, some of which I definitely want to fill you in on, and some of which I'd rather just keep to myself. So in the next few days or weeks, you may notice some posts about things I did a month ago. Go with it... ok? Cool. Thanks.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about the important stuff: Marathon Training! With less than 4 months until the big day, I am full speed ahead with my marathon training schedule. Here's the plan I've constructed based on reviewing a gazillion different beginner schedules.

I had to do some shuffling here & there for the Jewish holidays, weekend getaways, long run meet-ups and other plans. But the basic schedule is:
Mondays: aiming for complete Rest
Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays: Shorter Runs
Wednesday: Yoga (Hot or Anusara)
Saturday: Cross Training which is typically core work & kickboxing class, sometimes yoga as well
Sunday: Long Runs

Now here's where you come in.... Take a look at it again. Now RIP it apart! Yes, I'm totally serious. This is my first marathon and who knows, I might not have a clue! So please, let me know what you think. Not enough running? Are my long runs long enough? etc.. Let me have it- I can take it!

Last week was the first on my schedule and called for 16 miles of running, 1 day of cross training and two days of rest. Despite an emotionally difficult week, I got it done and even felt pretty good doing it. I was especially pleased with my long run on Sunday which I completed after walking 8 miles to & from the new Target in Harlem. By the way, all I bought was a soap dispenser for my kitchen. Ha! Anyway, Sunday's 7 miles made me feel like the full 26.2 is possible after all. I really needed that run.

Tonight was yoga at home and then a long date with Dante, my foam roller. I have a feeling Dante and I will be spending lots of time together for the next four months.

Until later... happy running!