Foodie Penpal Reveal!

Quick Note -- I started feeling a lot more human on Wednesday (AKA I had a bit of an appetite) and today I'm feeling much better after resting consistently, so it's off to my externship and back to regular programming.

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My January foodie penpal, Jillian, sent me an awesome foodie pen pal box that I'm very excited to share with you all! 

Jillian lives in Connecticut and did a great job of sending me some healthy treats along with some local specialties. I love that! I sent my foodie penpal some speculaas cookies, a Dutch spice cookie, because I was at home in Lynden, WA, which has a large Dutch population and, therefore, a delicious Dutch bakery. 

Jillian sent me some local Connecticut honey and a great snack bar that's made in Connecticut -- the True Bar. I was obsessed with this one. It was seriously delicious with a nice, short ingredient list. I might have to put in an order at some point...

There were also some cool nut butters, a delicious chocolate bar, some maple cookies, teas and hot chocolate, and a chocolate honey bar. 

One thing I love about the Foodie Penpals program is that it exposes me to foods I would normally never eat, like the seaweed snax. While it might not be something I'd buy again, I loved trying it but never would have bought it.


This month's package was a total winner. Thanks, Jillian!!

This was my second time doing the Foodie Penpals program, and I encourage everyone to try out the program for a month at least because it's a lot of fun. If you like getting packages in the mail filled with food (and who doesn't??), and if you like sharing your favorite foods with others, it's such a great way to meet people from across the country.

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And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

Have you ever participated in foodie penpals? If you did this month, leave a link to your reveal!

Sick Day, but Exciting News!

Yup, I'm taking a sick day. I'm still sick with this horrible stomach bug, so I have nothing to talk about (my last two posts were prewritten before I got sick). I've been able to keep food down since Monday evening, which is a win! But I've also lost 3 pounds in about 36 hours. Not so much of a win.

hooray for dogs keeping sick people company

However, I do have some good news! In my sick haze on Monday afternoon, I got an exciting email. I am really excited to announce that I'm now a Sweat Pink Ambassador. I love Fit Approach's encouraging fitness community, focused on showing that women can be feminine and hardcore athletes. I'm looking forward to working with the community and meeting lots of other awesome Sweat Pink Ambassadors in the months to come!

Healthy Living Tuesdays Guest Post: For a Good Cause

Today's post is part of the Healthy Living Tuesdays' January series, "For a Good Cause," for Healthy Living Blogs.

One of the things I loved the most about 2012 was that I became involved in pro bono work. Throughout undergrad, I worked multiple part-time jobs in order to make money for textbooks, off-term internship living expenses, etc. I think it was valuable for me to be working in addition to being a college student, but I wish I could have done more community service.

(source)

 As a law student, things were so busy my first and second year that I just didn’t make it a priority to find time for pro bono work. This year has been different. You’re required to complete 40 pro bono hours to graduate from Columbia, so I decided to work with a brand new charter school helping the board design their employee and student handbooks. I’ve loved working with the school and I’m learning so much. What stands out to me is the fact that I’m using and broadening my skills to help others.

It’s made me eager to do other pro bono work and make sure that I make time for charitable endeavors. Doing this work reminded me of how enjoyable it is to use my skills for something other than just to earn money, so I signed up with a debate program for high school students where I’m coaching a high school senior in constitutional law debates. Working with a student is such a fun way to serve – and nothing makes you feel more grateful to be an adult than remembering what it was like to be a high school student. I also love mentoring (probably because I’m so talkative!) so it’s fun to be able to help someone by sharing my experiences with them.

The large cat is me and the smaller cat is my mentee, obviously(source)

Last week, I wrote that while food and exercise are obviously a major part of living my “best life,” there are a lot of other things I like to write about here, too. I write weekend recaps—when I see movies, go out to dinner, have drinks with friends—because that’s all part of me being happy and living a fulfilling life.

I think enriching the lives of others is also part of living our best lives. Over the holidays, we often take some time to volunteer or donate to a charity, trying to spread cheer. It makes us feel better and it’s one of the reasons we love the holidays – everyone seems a bit more caring of others. Why not keep up that dedication to others over the rest of the year?

Join the Voices race for brain cancer research!

There are so many great ways to volunteer out there. Run a race for a cause you care about (I like to run races that benefit cancer research and treatment). Find small projects that need assistance – I did a few small research projects for an organization over my holiday break that took no more than 5 hours total, yet were very helpful for the charity. Learn what organizations, if any, your employer works with – oftentimes they’ll be more willing to let you dedicate work time to charitable endeavors if it’s for an organization they support. Look for an organization to volunteer with in your area (NYCares collects volunteer opportunities in the NYC area).

Do you volunteer? Are there any charitable organizations or causes you feel strongly about?

Weekly Goals & Workout Recap: arch pain and playing tourist in your own city

This weekend was so much fun. One of my oldest friends is in town for a job interview and made it a four day trip so that he could explore New York because he'd never been here before. That meant I spent the weekend being a tour guide, which I love to be, and even doing some NYC activities I'd never done before.

Noah and I have been friends since we were in the same 6th grade class. This visit is the longest we've seen each other since after my freshman year when I was home for 2 months over the summer. Otherwise it's a day trip when we're both in Washington or a quick coffee before one of us flies away (he went to undergrad in San Francisco and just rocked his first semester of law school in Sacramento).

Noah is a rockstar and was down to run 3 miles with me on Saturday after flying overnight to NYC. I was going to do my long run with the Lululemon Run Club,  but after snowfall the night before I was nervous about ice (and I'd only gotten 5 hours of sleep because Sourabh and I were up late cleaning -- oops). We ran around the Reservoir then hit up a few more touristy spots.

also, he's wearing shorts. whaaaat.

Like the Guggenheim! Noah is a huge architecture buff (I've been learning things as I lead him around the city) and wanted to see it. We also ran past the Met then jogged along the Great Lawn so he could see the great skyline views from there.

We relaxed and recharged that afternoon before going to one of Sourabh and my favorite restaurants in New York, Alta. We've been there at least 10 times and always enjoy ourselves. Great food, atmosphere, and drinks! We went to a sports bar to watch the Knicks lose badly to the 76ers (thank goodness they won last night or else I'd be really worried), then headed back home to hang out and watch a movie.

Since we didn't get to bed until nearly 2 AM, I decided to postpone my long run till Monday so that I could spend all day Sunday sightseeing with Noah. First we went to the 9/11 Memorial, which I hadn't seen yet.

The space is really beautiful and it's hard not to get contemplative as you look at the fountains and see the names of those who died on 9/11. It's a lovely memorial and I'm glad I finally saw it.

brrrrr. it's cold.

Next we walked to Battery Park so that Noah could see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Once he'd gotten the requisite picture with the Statue of Liberty, we walked up to SoHo and grabbed lunch from Chipotle (cheap lunches for the win).

We ended our day by going to Rockefeller Center by way of Grand Central Station.

I walked through this every day last summer on my way to work, and it was easy to forget how gorgeous the space is. I loved seeing it anew with Noah.

We ended up on the Top of the Rock at the exact right time. The sun was setting so the city looked extra beautiful. Despite the cold, we walked around all three levels of the Rockefeller Center's observation decks to see every corner of the city.

It was a fun two days of playing New York tourist.

Unfortunately, I came down sick with some kind of stomach virus last night and I am extremely bedridden, so Noah has to venture out by himself today.


Weekly Workout Recap

My goals were almost all met this week, except for one 3 mile run (due to arch pain) and the long run (moved to Monday, which I think is fine because I completed last week's long run on this week's Monday). I also only did one strength workout, but I added planks and push-ups to multiple runs.

Monday: 7 mile long run. My muscles were still very sore from the previous Saturday's strength workout and subsequent overnight plane ride with no sleep, so it was a slow run, but I felt great the whole time. If I'd been able to move my legs with less pain I think the pace would have been quicker, too! Made sure to foam roll and stretch after. Ended the day with a 2:00 plank for Abs By April.

Tuesday: 7x400 for speed work, 4 miles total! I had to work all day so I completed this week's prescribed speed workout on the treadmill. I warmed up for 1/4 mile at 9:30 and took a 1/4 mile for recovery between each interval at 10:00. My first interval was 7:47 and got down to 7:13 for the last one. I think I could have started faster, but I'd never done 7x400 before--only 4x400--and wasn't sure how much I'd have left by the last one. Cooled down for .5 miles at 10:00 for 4 miles total. Ended session with 2:10 plank, 25 push-ups, then stretched and foam rolled in my apartment.

Wednesday: Spin class with Beth at Flywheel UWS. She was a sweetie and came across town to spin with me! Also spent 30 minutes doing my yoga flow for runners and foam rolling, along with a 2:20 plank.

Thursday: Unplanned rest day. I'd meant to run 3.5 miles on the treadmill after work and class, but I got up to the gym in my building and had such intense arch pain in my right foot that I couldn't run. I was extremely upset and tweeted about it, freaking out that it could derail my training. Immediately got amazing responses back because my runner friends are awesome. (Pretty sure the arch pain was due to wearing heels at work on Tuesday and Thursday -- wearing flats from now on and hoping that and the foot massage I got Sunday will cure the arch pain!) Went to my apartment and foam rolled, and still got in a 2:30 plank.

Friday: 4 miles on the treadmill at a steady pace. Felt some arch discomfort but nothing so bad that I couldn't ignore it, and it didn't increase with the mileage or pace, and Saturday didn't bring worse arch pain so I don't think the pain is due to running. Finished with foam rolling and my record for this week, a 2:45 plank!

Saturday: 3.25 easy miles with Noah around Central Park. So much fun to share my favorite place to run with one of my favorite people! Minimal arch pain on this run and the rest of the day.

Sunday: Yoga for runners flow and easy strength session comprised of lunges, squats, push-ups, planks, and one-legged deadlifts while watching the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Clocked out with a 2:00 plank. Also walked roughly 3.5 miles around NYC and got a 15 minute foot massage to try to improve arch issues.


This Week's Goals:

Hoping arch pain doesn't get in the way of any more runs, and I want to rededicate myself to strength training! Also, can this stomach virus go away quickly? I'd be very happy about that.

Priorities: continue to foam roll and make sleep #1 on my list of things to care about. Did not get enough sleep last week and it clearly showed since I had a harder time dedicating myself to non-running workouts as the week progressed.

So these are the workouts I want to do this week:

• 1 long runs (8-9 miles)
• 2 short runs ( 1 3-miler and 1 4-miler)
• 1 tempo run (40 minutes -- going to treat the 4 mile Gridiron Classic race my tempo run!)
• 2 strength workouts
• 2 yoga practices
• 1 spin class if possible

Are you running any races this weekend? Do you like having visitors so you can play tourist where you live? 

Easy Indian Vegetables Recipe

After Sourabh and I graduated, we had very little money for the first few months. My student loans hadn't come in and all of our savings had gone to safety deposits and moving expenses to get us into our NYC apartment. At the time, we were in Riverdale in the Bronx, living in a Columbia-owned condo. We rattled to law school (for me) and work (for him) in the "shuttle" that was actually a van that was constantly overcrowded and sideswiped cars multiple times.

ok, we weren't poor, but money was a bit tight.
(source)

This recipe was one we made frequently since it's extremely cheap -- potatoes and whatever vegetables are on sale. Eggplant, onions, and cauliflower are all good bets, but we've made it with okra and green beans before and it's still delicious. You can eat it over basmati rice or on its own. And it's a great take-to-work/school-and-reheat meal (Sourabh ate it for lunch today).

This dish is a traditional type of Indian side, too. Sourabh's mother frequently makes just one vegetable as a side to a curry, but we like to make multiple vegetables and make it the main meal. You could make just one vegetable with an Indian-spiced meat/fish if you wanted extra protein.

What I'm trying to say is, this recipe is adaptable. And keeping that in mind, I'm not giving complete measurements because they'll vary based on the vegetables used and it's hard to over-spice this recipe (and you can always taste-test as you go and add more!). I will give you some suggested amounts, though, so you're not operating totally in the dark.

This is great to make on the weekends (hence, why I'm sharing it on a Friday) because it can be a bit time-consuming--say, an hour? I recommend cooking each vegetable separately if you aren't a top chef (I'm not) to ensure each cooks to its desired done-ness. We like to make it on a Sunday and then eat the leftovers throughout the week. Just prop up your laptop and put on a movie while you cook!

Easy Indian Vegetables Recipe

I know, it doesn't look good -- but it's delicious!

Ingredients
3-4 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
1 medium eggplant, thinly sliced
2 cups cauliflower, chopped
Curry powder (approx. 2 tsp. per vegetable batch)
Turmeric (approx. 2 tsp. per vegetable batch)
Cumin powder (approx. 1 tsp. per vegetable batch)
Salt (approx. 1/2 tsp. per vegetable batch)
Olive oil (for cooking)


Directions

1. After chopping each batch of vegetable, cover the top with the spice mix like in the picture below, then toss the vegetables in the spice mixture.

2. Cover pan with olive oil and heat (approximately 1 tablespoon per batch of vegetable).

I mixed the eggplant with the green beans, but wished I hadn't -- the eggplant cooked much quicker than the beans

3. Cook one type of vegetable at a time, stirring frequently. Cooking time varies, but you want the eggplant to be falling apart, potatoes to be alternatively crispy and mushy when you press on them, and cauliflower should be close-to-soft.

4. Once the last batch is done, toss all the vegetables together in the pan for 1-2 minutes to make sure everything is nice and hot, then serve!

Do you like Indian food? What's your favorite dish? Would you like to see more "everyday" Indian cooking?

Defining My "Best" Life

Yesterday, Ali on the Run wrote a wonderful post about being a responsible reader. That is, no longer reading blogs only to get angry over them or feel badly about yourself in comparison. I thought it was wonderful because I think we've all been there, reading things we hate or continuing to follow people on Facebook or Twitter when their every tweet or status update annoys us.

But it made me want to reflect on a few things and define my blog's tiny space in the gigantic Internet world of blogs.

If I am defining my blog philosophy, I should probably include pictures of mountains. 

There's a reason I titled this blog Jen's Best Life. It's about my workouts and race training and balancing law school (and, come fall, work) with everything else in life, yes. But I also post about dinners out and seeing movies and getting drinks with friends. Because to me, living my best life is not about constant deprivation in pursuit of some unattainable vision of perfection.

Instead, I try to eat and live with a forward-looking view. That is, what will make me feel best today? Tomorrow? A month from now?

Having a dog? All part of living my best life. How could seeing this not make me feel happy?

Most of the time what will make me feel best is relatively "healthy" eating, lots of veggies and fruit. But I hate the terms "good" and "bad" foods. When I go to a Mexican restaurant and gorge myself on tortilla chips and guacamole, they taste extremely "good" to me. If covered in cheese, even better. I don't do that every night, but a life without nachos is a life unlived (to me). 

Oh, and I don't work out to burn calories. I don't even count calories. I tried to for a while, and yes I lost a few pounds, but it felt so restrictive. That doesn't mean it can't be a wonderful weight loss tool, but I'm not trying to lose weight so why would I do something that makes eating less enjoyable for me?

Going for a run and watching my dad "run" the mini dachshunds should probably also go in a post about living my best life, right? 

I've written before about how it's hard to motivate myself to go to the gym or head out for a run. But even the shittiest run feels great at the end. So I run. And I love how strong I feel when I strength train. So I lift weights and do push-ups.

Being strong and fit makes me feel excited and alive, but enjoying baked goods and Tex-Mex also make me happy. (Yes, I'm obsessed with Mexican food and have mentioned it about 5 times already, judge me if you want. Or go out to a Mexican restaurant with me -- even better!)

This picture in my blog header of me cooking? I'm in Mexico. Making Mexican food. Guacamole, to be exact.

When I am 90 and reflecting on my life, I don't think I'll say "I wish I were three pounds lighter." I also don't think I'll say "I wish I'd eaten that cookie that one day that I turned down." I'm pretty sure I'll reflect on the relationships I had with people and what I accomplished in my life, and that's why a great night out at a Mexican restaurant having drinks with friends and eating nachos is worth it. It's also why training for half-marathons and then, someday, a full marathon is worth it.

How did we get to me on my deathbed? That's morbid. Anyway, all of this is just my philosophy on how I can live my most fulfilling life. It's what motivates me as I write this blog, and use having a blog as motivation to live my best life.

How do you try to live your "best" life? 

Externing, Race Medals, and Abs by April Challenge

That first day of school feeling
Yesterday was the first day of my spring term externship. After 18 straight years of school, I really couldn't stand another term only in the classroom, so I interviewed for an intern program at a regulatory agency in the fall. I ended up getting an offer for a division that I'm very interested in! Since my externship is subject to confidentiality rules, I can't really talk about what I'm doing, but the project I've been set up with is interesting so I'm looking forward to working there two days a week.

Despite not being nervous about starting since I already have a job offer post-graduation, I still had those first day jitters and had a hard time sleeping last night. Well, one of my cats may also be to blame... She's been very needy since I got back, meowing loudly for attention. She's also been kneady -- she kneads me if I'm sleeping and not giving her the proper amount of attention. This does not make for a restful night.

Miss Kneady
this pic cracks me up, she looks like she's posing for her  nude portrait a la Rose from Titanic

My school schedule is actually pretty light for my last term since I'm externing. I have busy Fridays and two evening classes, but Mondays and Wednesdays I have lots of time to work on my pro bono projects, train for all those half-marathons I'm signed up for, and try to take advantage of my last few months of studenthood before I'm a working girl permanently.

It's too bad that people tend to have plenty of free time when they have no money, and then when they're working and making money they have no free time. Someone needs to work on that... I guess that's what retirement is for! Is it weird that one reason I eat (relatively) healthy and work out is so that I'll be in good shape and able to enjoy my retirement? I've always planned too far ahead, but this might be extreme even for me.

My first medal!

I realized I totally forgot to post this when I recapped the New Year's Eve Half-Marathon! I guess the overall rottenness of the race made me forget the fact that I'd gotten my first race medal. The medal was actually awesome because... there's a mountain on it (that's Mt Baker). But as if that wasn't awesome enough?

There is a sasquatch on my medal!!! This may totally make up for the shitty race. Also, I lost my Oiselle runfinity scarf at the race, and the race coordinator drove to meet me two weeks later to make sure I got it back. Local races are great, y'all.

Abs by April Challenge

Megan over at Run Like a Grl is coordinating a fun core-centric challenge called Abs by April. I've been neglecting my core over the past few months so I'm participating to try to change that! This week's challenge is to do a plank every day (AKA "plankaday").

I started on Monday and made it to 2:00 by playing with my phone and checking Twitter. Tuesday I got to 2:10 after completing my speed workout for the week. Woot! My goal is to be able to do a 5:00 plank by April! Let me know if  you decide to do it, too, and we can encourage each other. Use the hashtag #AbsByApril to tweet your progress!


Are you going to join the Abs by April challenge? What's your favorite race medal you've received? How often do you get that first-day-of-school feeling?

Seattle Mini-Vacation Recap

Last Wednesday, Sourabh and I headed down to Seattle for a one-night mini vacation. A vacation within a vacation, I guess? Visiting family never quite seems like a vacation, though. Unless family lives in St. Croix or Hawaii, of course!

Growing up in a rural area, visiting Seattle (100 miles away) or Vancouver (50 miles away) was always a big event. It's not quite the same feeling when you live in New York, but I was excited to share the city with Sourabh.

We started the day by going full-on tourist and having lunch on the Space Needle!

The restaurant at the top rotates slowly, so that you complete a full rotation approximately once every hour. Since tickets to go to the top are $19 each and most entrees are ~$30, we reasoned it was a pretty good value for a great view.

Clockwise from top right: Olympic Peninsula and Olympic Mountains, Mt Baker in the distance over Lake Union, Cascades and East Seattle, and Downtown Seattle 

And the views are beautiful (on a sunny day). However, even with the saving on a ticket up the Space Needle, we just weren't very impressed with our food.

Sourabh got a lamb burger with fries (that's goat cheese on the fries)

I had a $27 salad

I think for lunch this works out to be a decent deal. They have a minimum $25-per-person for lunch, so if you get something for under $30, the meal is only $35-40 after you subtract the price of the tickets. BUT there are a lot of great restaurants in Seattle, so if you're going to spend that much on lunch, it shouldn't be for mediocre food.

Instead of the Space Needle, I recommend going up the Columbia Center for only $5 (the view is well recapped here). Especially if you're traveling with more than two people, the Space Needle is just too pricey and isn't even the best view in town!

After our lunch, we headed down to Pike Place Market, the semi-open air market that operates year-round (this is why it's only semi-open air!). Pike Place has a wonderful fish market where they throw fish around, tons of fresh produce, and lots of fun specialty items.

Across the street are restaurants, bakeries, and hole-in-the-wall shops that make everything from delicious Chinese buns to fabulous French pastries (Le Panier -- go there, it's delicious).

We walked around Belltown as the sun was setting, then headed back to our hotel to nap for a bit before having a late dinner at Purple Cafe and Wine Bar. I'd heard about the restaurant when I sat next to one of their sommeliers on my flight to Washington in October. We'd really hit it off and chatted for much of the flight -- she was a fellow runner who seemed extremely knowledgeable about food and wine, so I figured we couldn't go wrong by stopping by!

the wine "cellar" is the circular staircase in the middle of the restaurant!
(source)

Sadly she wasn't working Wednesday night so I couldn't say hi, but the restaurant was still a great pick. We were still pretty full from lunch and snacking our way through Pike Place, so we split a few appetizers and the lobster mac and cheese (so good!!) and had a few of their delicious champagne-based cocktails.

The next morning was unfortunately totally foggy, so we decided to head back to my parents' house early, but it was a great little trip.

One thing that stood out to me was that, while it was fun to walk around a different city, most of what makes the Pacific Northwest a wonderful vacation destination for someone living in a big city is its natural beauty. In the winter, while you can admire it from afar, you can't really hike up the mountains or boat along the waterways.

passing ferries 

We had fun, but when you live in New York, having a dinner out or walking around a city just doesn't have the same allure.  I want to return to Washington with Sourabh when the weather is warm and sunny (so, basically, August and September) so that we can take full advantage of the things the Pacific Northwest does best. We're hoping to take a hiking trip to Washington in the next year or two so that he can fully experience the state. Ok, and so I can continue to feed my mountain obsession!

What's the last place you went on vacation? If you live in a city, do you find visiting other cities loses some of its appeal?

Weekly Goals and Workout Recap: Indian Cooking, Mountains, and Redeyes

Happy MLK Jr Day AND Inauguration Day! Four years ago on Inauguration Day, Sourabh and I were juniors in college on an off-term, living in a teeny basement apartment in D.C. and working as unpaid interns for two think tanks there. We'd only been dating a few months, but on a leap of faith (or rather, stupidity?) we decided to live together since it was the only way we could really afford to be unpaid interns. Not the brightest idea in retrospect since it could have ended badly, but hey, four years later and we're still together :)

Anyway, I have so much to write about from the past few days! Sourabh and my mini trip to Seattle, our last night with my family, traveling back to New York, and last week's training. I'm going to recap Seattle separately tomorrow so I can go into a bit more detail (and not overwhelm with mountain pictures in one post). Also, if you missed it on Friday, I posted a yoga flow for runners with lots of pictures illustrating each pose. Check it out!

Chef Sourabh

After getting home from Seattle on Thursday, Sourabh and I cooked some Indian food for my parents. We ended up cooking Friday night as well. Both times we made a very simple vegetable recipe -- it's basically sauteed vegetables with Indian spices. I'm going to post it on the blog soon! We also did a great fish recipe on Friday that I'd never had. It was delicious so I'll be figuring out the proportions (we were eyeballing) and posting that as well.

On Friday, we had lunch with my old piano teacher, Nancy. I was so happy that Sourabh got to meet her! I took piano lessons with Nancy for seven years, but more than being a piano teacher, she was always a surrogate grandparent to me. My mom's parents lived far away for most of my childhood and were never very grandkid-oriented, and my dad's parents sadly passed away before we could get too close. So I've always looked on Nancy as my grandma-fill-in, right down to the delicious cookies she always baked for piano recitals.

I was so glad Sourabh could meet her since he never met my grandparents. After a nice lunch catching up, my parents, Sourabh and I drove up the Mount Baker Highway so that Sourabh could see the gorgeous views in the Mt. Baker recreational area. The top part of the road was closed due to snow.

I have no idea why. It's not like there was that much snow. (Mt Baker actually gets some of the deepest drifts in the country because every time it rains in WA, it's snowing in the mountains)

We got to see the sun set over the peaks of the mountains, creating gorgeous shadows in the valleys while the mountaintops were capped with golden sunlight. It was breathtaking.

Mt. Shuksan, elev. 9,131 ft.

Sourabh doesn't share my (unhealthy) obsession with mountains, but even he admitted the hour and a half drive was worth it to see the Cascades up close. Trust me, if you're ever in Washington, you must drive up the Mount Baker Scenic Highway. If you go in August or September, then Artist's Point should be open -- it's the highest point of the highway at 5,140 ft. and has many trails you can hike while staring at the Cascades and Mt. Baker, which is a 10,000 ft. active volcano!

Ok fine, enough mountain talk. I'll stop. Even if you don't like mountains, there's a wonderful Italian restaurant partway up the highway, Milano's, which is a destination all by itself.

I'm so happy because we're in the mountains!

Oh, we also brought Mason up to the mountains! At first he was totally fine trotting around exploring. But after about 10 minutes, he suddenly ran to the car and decided he was done. I think his paws had gotten cold on the snow! He's not exactly a hardcore dog; definitely more of the coddled city dog type.

I forgot Mason's leash and collar, so my dad bought him a pink harness and leash. no gender conformity for him.

Saturday afternoon, after a 30 minute Nike Training Club workout that left me very sore the next day and my dad's yoga class, Sourabh and I took my parents to lunch to thank them for putting up with us and our finicky dog for a month. Then it was a flurry of packing and a 2-hour drive to Seattle Airport for our redeye flight to JFK!

Good bye, Washington. Till next time.

Weekly Workout Recap
Several of the blogs I read do a weekly workout recap, which I love reading. Yes, I'm a dork who likes reading about other people's workouts. Oh well.

Anyway, instead of just doing bullet points on how I did on my goals for the previous week, I've decided to start recapping my workouts a bit more, going day by day, before detailing my goals for the coming week. Let me know what you think of the change!

Last week's goals
• 2 short runs, 3 miles each
• 1 long run, 7 miles
• 1 tempo run, 35 minutes
• 2 strength workouts
• 2 yoga classes

Monday: 
Short 3 mile run around local golf course. It was cold (like, sub-freezing), but I had surprisingly few breathing issues, despite keeping an average 9:01 pace. My breathing was labored, but nothing that made the run difficult.

Tuesday:
Rigorous vinyasa class taught by my dad. This was at a smaller gym than my dad's normal class, and there was only one other student -- a young guy in great shape. My dad led a very tough class, doing extra exercises with weights, so I felt like it doubled as a strength workout.

Wednesday: 
Rest day (Seattle).

Thursday: 
Got home from Seattle after dark, so completed a 3.5 mile short run on the treadmill with an average 9:20 pace. I could have gone a bit faster, but the goal of these runs is to get my body used to the mileage more than speed up, so I didn't push it. I was really proud I made it happen, since I hate running on a treadmill and had just driven two hours, so was tempted to skip a workout.

Friday:
Unplanned rest day. My parents wanted me to stay home and since I was leaving the next day, I decided to spend more time with them. Thankfully for my training, this distraction is gone now!

Saturday:
30 minute advanced toning strength workout using Nike Training Club app. The workout showed me how much strength I've lost over the past month since I wasn't prioritizing strength training. And I'm still feeling it! Lots of variations on deadlifts. I love the areas I'm feeling sore in -- hamstrings, calves, glutes, and quads. The areas that I need to strengthen to be a better runner.

Restorative flow yoga class. My last class with my dad for a while! Since he had a large class with quite a few new students, he made it quite easy, so it was more of a restorative class.

Sunday:
Unplanned rest day. Was supposed to do my long run, but after a redeye flight from 10pm-2am Pacific time where I got no sleep, I barely moved from bed except to buy groceries for our startlingly bare fridge. I am not capable of functioning on no sleep, despite my age. Luckily, today is a holiday and I am heading out for my long run shortly.


This Week's Goals
I mentioned on last week's run chat that this time around, I wasn't going to make excuses. So no excuses: last week was not good. It's hard to prioritize workouts when you're on vacation and not in your groove, but it was not a good start to NYC Half training. I'm not letting excuses get in the way of my workouts this week. So here are my goals!

• 1 spin session
• 2 strength workouts
• 2 yoga practices
• 2 short runs (3 miles each, 1 at 8:30 pace)
• 1 speed work session (7x400)
• 1 medium run (4 miles)
• 1 long run (8 miles)
• foam roll!!

What are your goals for this week? Can you work out if you're sleep deprived? Would you like to see some easy Indian recipes on the blog?

Yoga Flow for Runners

One of the things I wanted to do while I was visiting my family was create a yoga flow for runners. I wanted something that would both stretch the right muscles—hamstrings, quads, hips, calves—while also strengthening them, and I didn’t want it to be too long because it’s so hard to practice yoga at home (or at least I think it is!).

Luckily, I have a yoga teacher I can talk to at home! My dad teaches yoga four to five times a week and is a Yoga Alliance certified instructor. He’s prepping a teacher training for this summer because there are so few certified yoga teachers in my area. Once I gave him the things I was looking for, he put together a series of poses to meet my specifications!

We spent an hour or so on Saturday taking pictures to illustrate the poses. Then, I used the descriptions from my dad’s yoga book for each pose. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that. My dad wrote an entire book on yoga filled with poses, descriptions, and other yoga tidbits. He generously let me use his book descriptions to explain what to do as you move through these poses. The book is available on Amazon if you’re interested!

Anyway, I’m so excited to share this yoga flow with you! It’s my first time acting as a fitness “model,” and my camera didn’t always take the best shots, but hopefully you can get a good enough idea of each pose and the movement between them.

If you are familiar with yoga poses, you can just use the photos as a visual guide for the flow. If not, there are in-depth descriptions of each pose to help you figure out alignment and how to get in and out of each pose.

Sun Salutation Series (Vinyasa)

This is a great series to use not just for a yoga flow, but for a pre-run warm-up because it builds heat and stretches your entire body, limbering you up before you head out.

From Mountain, gently bend backwards for Gentle Back Bend. Stretch long and look at the ceiling. Since you are just starting to warm up, only bend gently back, with more emphasis on lifting your rib cage and stretching your front than bending your back.

After bending backwards, exhale through a swan dive (arms extended out to both sides) to Forward Fold, bending from the hips, not the waist. Once folded, relax your neck and look at your knees.

• If you have very tight hamstrings or lower back problems, soften or slightly bend your knees. 
• Keep your abdomen lifted and your spine long as you fold forward.
• Touch the floor with your fingertips if you can. Never force here -- you should feel your hamstrings gently stretching, but you should not feel any discomfort in your lower back. If you do, back off and bend your knees.

Inhale your head and shoulders up to parallel with the floor with a long straight back and place 

your hands on your knees or shins for Forward Arch. 

• Keep your neck long as you look at the floor. 
• Feel your back extend and your hamstrings stretch. 
• Roll your shoulders back and down as you extend your spine. 
• Rotate your pelvis so that your tailbone and your lower back are on the same plane, making one long line from the tip of your tailbone to the top of your head. 
• Broaden your shoulders making space between your ears and your shoulders.

Exhale your right foot back to Lunge -- keep your left foot flat on the floor with your left knee directly over your ankle and your finger tips on the floor. 

• If it is too difficult to hold this position, you can lower your right knee to the floor. 
• Keep your hips low and straighten your right leg. 
• Roll your shoulders back, lift your chest, and look forward. 
• Try to make a long straight line from your forehead to your right heel.

Inhale your left foot back next to and hip width apart from your right foot for Plank. If this is too difficult, lower your knees to the floor. Your hands should be flat on the floor with spread fingers  beneath your shoulders. 

• Make a long straight line from the top of your head to your heels (or from the top of your head to the end of your tailbone if you lowered your knees).
• Looking at the floor, lengthen your arms without locking your elbows, make space between your shoulders and your ears, and broaden your chest and shoulders keeping your abdomen lifted in and up. 
• Make sure that your seat is not sagging or too high -- you need to be one long straight line.

Exhale, lowering your body to a low push-up position for Low Plank (the infamous yoga push-up). 

• Keep your elbows right next to your ribs, trying not to let your body touch the floor.
• Your entire body should remain in exactly the same position as Plank (including knees on floor if needed) except that you have bent your elbows to lower yourself. 

Inhale your upper body upwards as you move from your toes to the top of your feet for Upward Dog. 

• Reach long with your arms, roll your shoulders back, lift your chest, and look forward. 
• If you can lift your legs off the floor, do so.

Exhale your weight back to the balls of your feet, straighten your legs without locking knees, and move your seat up and back for Downward Dog. 

• If straightening your legs is too difficult or painful, bent knees are fine. Try to get your weight centered more on your legs than your arms.
• Lift your sitting bones, extend your arms, and broaden your chest, lifting your abdomen in and up towards your spine. Your hands should be three to four feet from your feet, depending on the relative length of your torso, arms, and legs.
• Relax your neck while looking between your feet. Try to move your upper body down and back without moving your hands, making an upside down letter “V”. 
• Lower your heels. Getting your heels to the floor is not the point of this pose and is not possible for everyone -- it's more important to try to get your sitting bones up high and a long straight line from the top of your head to the bottom of your tailbone.

Raise your right leg up, activating your glutes, for Downward Dog Split. Try to keep your hips level and squared to the floor with your left heel as close to the ground as it was before. Keep your alignment from Downward Dog, making a straight line from your hands through to the tip of your foot.

Bend your right leg and tilt the heel back toward your right glute, stacking your hips, for Downward Dog Split Hip Opener. Try to keep your chest from rotating outwards.

Inhale your right foot forward for Lunge, repeating as before.

Exhale your left foot forward for Forward Fold, repeating as before.

Inhale your seat down to a sitting position while you lift your arms with straight, not locked
elbows, and facing palms for Chair.

• Look forward while lowering your hips and stretching your arms up. Keep both feet flat on the floor and your shoulders and neck relaxed. 
• Breathe. You may want to stay for several breaths in this pose.

For added difficulty, raise up onto the balls of your feet to engage your calves in Chair Modification. Do not let your seat rise; keep the same alignment as in Chair.

Rise back up to Mountain.

Repeat the Vinyasa series multiple times at an increased pace to add a cardio element, or hold each pose for 3-5 breaths for an increased strength workout.

Leg and Hip - Stretch and Strengthen Series

Flow through the Vinyasa series through Downward Dog. Each pose here should be held for 3-5 deep breaths in order to get the full stretching and strengthening benefit. Only one side is pictured -- make sure to repeat on the other leg!

From Down Dog, look forward and inhale your left foot next to left hand. Extend your arms straight forward with your biceps next to your ears and your palms facing each other. Stretch long from your tailbone to your finger tips, then inhale your torso up to perpendicular, keeping your biceps next to your ears, for High Lunge.

• Keep your hips down, your back leg and spine straight, and your right knee directly over your right ankle. 
• You may turn your back foot to 45 degrees or stay on the ball of your back foot. (If this is too difficult, lower your back knee to the floor). Whichever variation you choose, your back foot should be hip width from your front foot and your hips squared facing straight forward. 
• Lower your hips as you lift your ears. Relax your shoulders as you send energy up your extended arms. Keep your biceps next to your ears.

Inhale to standing on your front leg with extended arms and biceps next to your ears, then exhale as you slowly bend forward from your hips, not your waist, for Warrior III. Your back leg should be straight with your foot slightly off the floor, while your front foot and knee should be facing forward, so that you are reaching in both directions.

• Reach long from your finger tips to the ball of your back foot. Lift your front knee and thigh, but don’t lock your knee. 
• Keep a long straight line from your finger tips to the ball of your back foot, making sure that your hips stay level. 
• If balancing is too difficult, you can extend your arms to your sides like airplane wings or use a wall to help balance. 
• Although the full pose makes a letter “T”, go only as far as you can maintain both your breathing and your form.

While in Warrior III (or "Airplane"), bend your standing leg for a Deep Knee Bend. Repeat 5 times if possible for 5 one-legged squats.

Return to Warrior III, then High Lunge, then Lunge. Flow through the Vinyasa series. Repeat on other leg.

From Mountain, exhale your right foot about 3 feet back, front foot facing forward, back foot
slightly angled, feet hip width apart, and hips squared facing forward. Inhale your arms overhead with straight arms, palms touching, and thumbs crossed. Keeping both legs and arms straight, but not locked, slowly curl forward as you exhale until your forehead touches your front knee for Standing Forward Bend.

• Go only as far as you can without any strain on your lower back. Touch your fingertips to the floor in front of your foot (Option 1). 
• If you need to separate your hands for balance, do so (Option 2). 
• Alternatively, exhale your arms into prayer hands behind your back, rolling your shoulders back, before bending (Option 3). If you cannot make prayer hands behind yourself, grab your elbows or forearms.

Repeat on other side.

From Mountain, exhale your right hand down as you lift your right foot behind yourself. Grab the inside of your right foot with your right hand, pulling until you feel a stretch. Keep your left arm and leg extended for Flamingo. Stand tall.

Bend forward from the hips, reaching long with your left arm, and lifting your right
knee as high as possible for Dancer.

• The more you reach forward and kick back at the same time, the better you can balance. 
• Make sure that your upper leg does not angle outwards. 
• Focus your eyes straight ahead on something that doesn’t move. 

Repeat on other side.

Flow through Vinyasa series from Mountain to Lunge. Inhale as you lower your right knee and the top of your foot to the floor. Exhale your hands flat on the floor to the inside of your left foot and lower your upper body forward until both elbows (or hands if elbows don’t reach) are on the floor for Lizard.

If you can, reach your left arm back and grab your right foot for a Quad Stretch Modification. After several breaths, sit back and straighten your left leg, bending over it for a Hamstring Stretch.

Return to Lunge, then flow through Vinyasa series and repeat on other side.

Seated Poses

Sitting with your legs extended in front on you, cross your left leg so that your left ankle rests
on top of your right knee. Place the sole of your left foot on the inside of your right elbow. Reach your left arm around the outside of your left knee and interlace your fingers for Rock the Baby (ok, also known as Akarna Dhanurasana, but try saying that three times fast). Sit up tall and straight and hug your leg to your torso.

Repeat on the other side.

Sitting with your legs bent in front of you, bend your right knee until your right foot touches your
seat. Place your left foot on the right side of your right knee. Your left knee will now point towards the ceiling. Sit up as tall as you can. Place your left hand next to your tailbone, fingers facing away, and your left arm around your right knee and hug your thigh to your torso for Sitting Twist.

• Inhale tall then exhale your abdomen to the right. 
• Inhale tall then exhale your chest to the right. 

Repeat on other side.

Lie on your back and extend your left arm, palm facing down. Place the palm of your right hand on the outside of your left knee and slowly exhale your bent left knee over to your right side. Keep your right leg straight and your left shoulder on the floor for Spinal Twist.

• Your left foot should be resting on the side of your right knee Fig 106. 
• Do not push your left knee to the floor, let gravity slowly bring it to the floor. 
• Release and relax. Breathe. 

Repeat on other side.

Yoga joke! Because it's called corpse pose! So I'm acting like I'm dead! *crickets* ... ok, moving on.

Start Corpse Pose by lying flat on your back on your mat. Your arms should be at your sides
with your palms facing up and your feet should be hip width apart. Breathe deeply for 3-5 minutes here.

• Close your eyes and melt into your mat. 
• Let any tension from your Yoga session, your day, your job or school, melt away. Slowly erase everything on the blackboard. Do not think about what you did earlier or what you need to do later -- no to-do list making (I am guilty of this!)

If you're a runner, do you also practice yoga? Would you like to see a core-strengthening yoga flow?