Preparing for Miami

We are officially down to the last week before the Miami Marathon.  It felt like the time has just flown by this season, but with 17 weeks of training under my belt, taper week is here!  Tapering means carb-loading, which is my favorite, lots of sleep and de-stressing (yeah right).  It is also the time to get in a few short, easy runs, and to concentrate on other things like visualizing Miami's beaches and designing my singlet!

This season I decided to decorate my singlet since I couldn't really decorate my triathlon gear.  Over the course of the season, I have been touched my many people who have a connection to cancer and wanted to honor them by wearing their names on my jersey.  I spent the afternoon on Saturday decorating my singlet which I will wear during the Marathon next Sunday!

See you in Miami! :)

If you want to track me, click on this link: Track Katie

Just register and then search for me :) you can get text updates, email updates, or facebook/twitter updates on how I am doing in the race!!  

Manhattan Half Marathon

This past Saturday, January 21st, amidst blizzard conditions, a snow covered central park and freezing temperatures, my TNT participants crossed the finish line with smiles on their faces!  The Manhattan Half Marathon was my first official event with Team in Training, and I must say, it was a memorable one.  My team raised over $84,000 all going towards cancer research!  At 7am, I met my team at bag check to get them all pumped and ready to go and headed over towards a cheer station to cheer them on as they ran around Central Park!  I had ordered them medals for when they finished, so I met them all at the finish line and congratulated them! I am so proud of all that they have done- they not only completed the half marathon in the snow, but they raised money to go towards cancer research to save lives.  It was truly an inspiring day and regardless of the cold, wet, snowy weather, I absolutely love my job.

The Photo that New York Road Runners had posted on their website!!
http://nyrr.org/resources/photos/2012/manhattan_half/gallery.asp
Check it out for yourself!

Team Brooklyn!

Some of our participants and coaches

Our wonderful coaches!

Cheer station!!!

Erica and I all bundled up!!

I am so proud of them and standing out in that cold weather really gets me excited to be heading to Miami on Friday!!! Miami Marathon here I come!!! GO TEAM!!!

Random Sundays are the Best

On Sunday, we decided to be completely random. And by completely random, I mean we went to a Giants Tailgate.

I know what you're thinking.... THE GIANTS??? "She's a traitor, she's turned into a New Yorker, Eli Manning is hideous...." I know, I know.. but I promise- that's not it! I am not a supporter of the Giants, nor Eli Manning, I am simply a huge supporter of tailgating. 

Yes, tailgating... because nothing beats a grill covered in good food or a cold beer on a Sunday morning!!!

We took the $5 bus to Met Life Stadium, met up with Arielle's Dad and some great friends, and for 4 hours on Sunday we threw around a football, ate way too much food, drank some beer, and just enjoyed a gorgeous day in January... 

And for the record, I am still a Patriots fan- I credit Tom Brady for teaching me how to throw my immaculate spiral...

Tailgate and the glorious grill!

Arielle & Eliot!

Arielle and I enjoying the weather!

Zach made it all the way from Colorado!!! 

Arielle & her Dad!

Oh hey Giants fans!

It cooled off, so we were huddled in the back of the jeep!

Great day for a football game!

New Year's Resolutions

This year for my new year's resolution, instead of coming up with one thing, like giving up soda or chocolate (which we know will never happen), I came up with a list of things that I would like to do or improve upon or just accomplish.  There is always something that I would love to cross off my to-do-list of life, so I figured this could be a great way for me to keep track of the year.

-Study & take the LSAT
- Apply to law school
- Continue running and run at least 3 races in 2012 (besides the Miami Marathon)
-Blog & write more
-Photograph more and tackle something new
-Save Money- stop spending money on unnecessary things
-Learn a new language
-Give up coffee and drink more tea
-Travel more (whether it's upstate NY or California in April or Miami in January)
- Read at least 100 books (totally possible)
-Take a cooking class
-Visit a Winery
-Try something new!

That's it for now.. who knows what else, I can always add to it!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Happy Birthday, Mimi!!!  Wish I was there to celebrate with you! Hope you have an amazing day and can't wait to see you in a few weeks! Love you!

Crayons are not just for Kids!

So on New Year's Eve, amongst all the hustle and bustle of the city, I decided to have a crafty afternoon with crayons.  I had seen a craft project online having to do with melted crayons and I definitely wanted to try it out, so off I went to Michael's and $15 later I returned to my apartment with a big box of crayons, super glue, and 3 canvases.  I got home, laid out the crayons in the color scheme that I liked and glued them to the top of the canvas.  After letting them dry, I sat there, hair dryer pointed and waited patiently for the crayons to melt.  Finally, after what seemed like forever, a beautiful melted rainbow started to appear! So fun, so bright and SO easy!! Mission accomplished!

Crayons!

Finished Product!!!