let those stories go.

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Last night you guys, I went running and it was freaking awful. I was so slow, my calves hurt, I kept having to stop and walk, I was hot and cold and sore and tired for no reason. It was only a two mile run and I should have been able to bang it out at my normal pace, and I just knew I was moving terribly slowly.

When I got home, I was tired and grumpy and frustrated, but I knew it all stemmed from my lack of yoga practice lately. When I was talking to T recently, she said something to me about how she always assumed I did yoga because I loved it so much. And I DO love it, so so much, but sometimes you get in a rut. You go to bed late for a week in a row, you get a cold that you can’t shake, and when you get home from a long day at work you want to watch TV or curl up with a book, not sweat it out on a mat.

But the thing is, watching TV and reading never do for my BODY (or, let’s be honest, even my mind) what I need them to. I’m not suggesting they be given up, and I think I’ve written this same post over and over again, because it’s always a struggle. But when I get back to it, and I get into a groove, and I get into a flow, I always, always think, I’ve missed this. So I did a yoga class I do a lot, and I was much more relaxed when I was done.

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I got out of work early tonight because the power went out at work, and I was excited because that meant I could catch up on an episode of Law & Order:SVU (I think I might be the only person who still watches this show) AND fit in a yoga class before I had to hop in a car for a few hours off to our Palm Springs adventure.

In the video, which is taught by my fave Canadian, Fiji, she says something that really stuck with me. It’s a video for injury prevention for runners – and she’s talking about injuries, and she says, “Don’t judge yourself for anything that’s happened, any injuries that you may have had. Let those stories go.” That meant a lot to me. Because sometimes when I am training for a race, I sabotage myself you guys. (Doesn’t everyone?) I obsessively track my pace, I am upset when I am slow, I chide myself for being hungry or tired or cranky when I should be training, I panic when I get sick and I’m off a week on my training.

But why? Isn’t this race in a few weeks for me? For my body? To keep me fit and healthy? The only person I want to beat is my 2012 self – which I believe is doable. But you’re always working on getting better and beating yourself up (at least, for me) doesn’t work. You have to be in the moment, in the today, and do the best you can with what you have. That’s all anyone can do. I will have down days. I will have amazing days. I will run 3 miles and have it feel like nothing, and run 1 mile struggling every single step. But coming to the mat – and hitting the pavement – and actually DOING something is what matters.

Show up. Let those stories go. Be here. Be moving forward, always.

Happy Friday folks. Hope you’re in your happy places.

My heart won’t beat in the groove unless i’m talking to you

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Hey chickens! You might not know this, but I am headed into another race pretty soon. Three weeks from Sunday, I am running a holiday 10k. I am pretty excited about it – it’s the one we ran back in 2012 – but I need YOUR help. I need all the tunes – I have started a playlist but I am wondering what else I can add.

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So far I’ve got:

Don’t – Ed Sheeran
When We Were Young – Brett Dennen
I Choose You – Sara Bareilles
Young Love – Jesse McCartney
Chandelier – Sia
Heartbeat – Mat Kearney

But obviously, I need much more than that! I need enough music to get me through a solid hour and a half (for pump up tunes) so let me know what you’d add – I mostly like music with great beats but more importantly great lyrics.

Thanks kiddos!

xo

i could show you incredible things

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Hey y’all. It’s been radio silence since August, and I apologize for that. Things have been crazy, even beyond the fact that I was off getting married!

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When more photos become available, I will obviously share. In the meantime, have some good things that have made my busy a little less painful…

1) I don’t care what you say, the new Tay-Swift album is a great dance mix for bopping around the GMS kitchen with Cor.

2) I just finished Penny Marshall’s autobiography, “My Mother was Nuts” and it was stellar – so funny and a good look into the world of Hollywood. I recommend it to anyone looking for a lighter-hearted read!

3) EVERYONE please start listening to the podcast Serial. It is so fascinating. Katie and Dan got me hooked (THANKS GUYS) and I want to know who you think did it. I think it was Jay.

4) Guys, this is gushy and gross but I love that Jeff and I are married! It’s fun to say “my husband” and we’re having a good time settling in to this new stage in our life, even though it’s not super different than before.

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5) This coming weekend, I’m headed to Palm Springs for K + J’s wedding, and then the following weekend I am headed to Austin to reunite with Lisa B. and K + SS, and THEN it’s Thanksgiving. I am one lucky kid.

What are y’all up to? Tell me about your life!

your legs are teenagers.

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yogaHey, y’all. This week marked the last week I had in my old office before we embark on a journey to a new office further north. In preparation, I went to my last yoga class for a while with one of my fave teachers, Jay. I’ve been going to Jay’s classes on and off for a few years now, and whenever I’m in his classes I find myself laughing, and repeating what he’s said as a personal mantra – because his words are funny, but more importantly, true.

In my class with him on Wednesday, he declared that your legs are teenagers. “Your legs, they’re babies. They’re worse than babies, they’re teenagers, ready to stop doing what you told them the minute you take your attention from them.” We had our legs up the wall, and we were in a restorative class seeing as how it was the end of the month.

I love the restorative class once a month as a reset and a reward to a hard month. August was especially rough, having been so hot and having so many changes coming up. So I was glad when I arrived and we spent five minutes in some awesome, delicious poses. There was someone I’d never met in the class, and he kept saying, “So, this is active, my legs are active in this pose?” and it reminded me of how much learning I’ve done since I started doing yoga.

Common reactions I get from people who don’t do yoga when I tell them I do yoga four to five times a week are, “Don’t you get bored? Isn’t that just laying around on the floor? Do you chant?” No, no, and sometimes, are the answers. Yoga comes in many forms and speeds, but it is never boring and it certainly isn’t just laying around on the floor. Even in restorative yoga you’re focused on your body’s position, keeping your hips just so or your legs strong (you gotta watch those teenagers).

Whether you’re doing Iyengar yoga, which focuses deeply on alignment of the body and getting your body to work for you, or you’re moving through Vinyasas for thirty minutes, you’re still giving your body so much – and you’re focused on how your hips align with your ankles, and keeping your collarbone wide and your chest open.

When the ninety minute class was over, I told Jay I wouldn’t see him for a while, since my office was moving. I gave him a big hug, and I teared up as I walked to my car. I know that not going to this class means opportunity for something else, but it’s always sad to end something that makes your whole soul sing.

I can’t wait to find a new class to go to and commit to, but in the meantime I’ll be watching those legs and making sure that I don’t let them do whatever they please.

Thanks for a great practice, wherever you are, Jay!

 

we felt like the luckiest ones

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We’ve been bouncing around this summer, making plans every weekend and counting down until the wedding. Now that it’s August, I can officially say that I’m getting married next month (!) and so we’re gearing up and winding down all at once.

This weekend we’re headed to Montana to see Sierra and Dan get married, and I cannot wait. SS was my freshman year roommate, and she’s been dealing with my crazy for 10 years now. Dan and I also met freshman year, and Dan and Sierra started dating early on, which was cool for me because we were all friends and it made my life easier.

In 2006, the spring of our sophomore year, I made Sierra go to the Kasteel Well with me, leaving Dan behind in Boston. Lucky for us, he wrote to both of us frequently to keep us company, and he came to visit us halfway through our stay. We were supposed to go to Berlin, but Dan’s flight was delayed so we end up going for the weekend to Rotterdam. I don’t really know why I had invited myself on this weekend trip with Sierra and her boyfriend who had come all the way across the ocean to see her, but it seemed reasonable at the time (plus, let’s be honest, Dan was half there to see yours truly.)

So we headed South to Rotterdam, and we got a last minute hostel, and we tried to figure out what there was to do in Rotterdam. Turned out, there wasn’t much. So, one of our days was spent visiting the Euromast and obviously making a snowman.

DSCF8223 DSCF8195 DSCF8184The photo above of us in a reflection is the only one of the three of us I have from that trip, but I’ll never forget how much fun we had, despite being poor, cold, off-plan, and probably hungry (and under caffeinated!)

A few years later in 2008, we traveled together for spring break, heading to Los Angeles to see Jeff and potentially see if I could live there (I decided I could.) Here’s another horribly bad-slash-amazing picture of the three of us. What are we doing?

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I am so excited to be celebrating these two nearly ten years after I read them the entire list of ingredients in my multivitamins, interrupting their first date and being the classic annoying freshman year roommate. Sierra and Dan are two of the bests, the reals, the forever-friends. Though we see each other only a couple times of year, if that, we don’t let that stand in the way of this truth: they are my family.

I can’t wait to watch you two get married this weekend – I am so lucky to have such a great two friends in this world who happen to also love each other. Let’s maybe try to get a better photo this weekend, yeah?