New Places to Run on Long Island

I am finally back and able to run! Too bad I still need to take it easy for a while. Right now I’m averaging about 10 miles a week, trying to get back into my normal swing of things. Now that I’m home in Long Island and have a brand new pair of sneakers, I’ve started exploring new places to run. The two places that I’ve grown to love are the Massapequa Preserve and the Wantagh Parkway Bike path. The Massapequa Preserve is a 423 acre plot of land that is located in Nassau County and right across the street from me. The preserve is the closest wooded area to me and has great paved and unpaved trails through the woods. Another place that I love to run is the Wantagh Parkway Bike path. The bike path is an all paved path that is about 7 miles and takes you straight to Jones Beach. The thing I like most about the path is its dog friendly so I can take the love of my life, Lucy, for runs with me, which I can’t do on the preserve. It also smells like the beach so it makes you more determined to get to the end of your run. Since I hurt my foot it’s been pretty difficult to get the same mileage I had been getting before my injury. It’s also been hard because now that I have started my internship I feel way too tired to do anything when I get home. I’m hoping that once i start my life guarding as well it'll be easier for me to get into a schedule and get back to my 20 miles a week!

         Love Always,

                        Christina

Pinspired

Hello, my name is Christina and I am a addicted to Pintrest. Last year I used to be a big fan of Stumbleupon but this year my new obsession has been Pintrest. The main things I use Pintrest for are outfit ideas, crafts, and recipes. For some people however fitness is their main use for Pintrest. While Pintrest does have some good health and fitness stuff I do have allot of complaints about it. First complaint: Some girls use Pintrest to make " fitspiration" boards. These are essentially just a bunch of picture of skinny girls to make them feel motivated to go work out. While this may help some people get up and go to the gym, I think it mostly just makes girls feel like shit. These boards pretty much make girls feel like they need to work out like a maniac and not eat for them to be pretty. Second Complaint: The magical weight loss stories that are posted. Some pins show before and after pictures of people that say they lost like 50lbs in 3 months from doing x y and z ... these are obviously fake because all weight loss takes time. There’s no magic pill, no amount of running, and no amazing food that can make you loose that much weight that fast. Third Complaint: Some pins even have tips on how to not eat. That’s called anorexia and it’s not cool. Even though these things do seem pretty bad about pintrest's health and fitness, there is an upside to it. Pintrest health and fitness page does have great ab workouts and other workouts that are listed on some pins. They also have great running programs for treadmills and new runners. So if your going to pin, here are some things to remember while looking up fitness pins:

1.      Always check who is writing the article the pin is about.

2.      Don’t look at fitness pins every day.

3.      Don’t make a "fitsportaion" board with pictures of people, make it with workouts instead (becasue lookign at people wont help you loose weight, actually doing stuff will!)  

4.      Fast weight loss is not real weight loss!

5.      Everyone has different bodies, who cares if you got a little more lovin on ya.

6.      GET OFF PINTREST AND GO OUTSIDE

                                   Love Always,

                                                 Christina

Bye Bye Bootie

 Thank God school is finally over with and sumemer has started. Since I have been home I have eaten so many bagels ( its kinda sad) and drank about 3 gallons of ice coffee. Now that im back on the island, I finally went to the Doctor because of my boot and he told me the worst news possible.. Take it easy on the running. I feel like complete pooop since I havent been able to run but he said I would be up and runnning my normal amount in 3 more weeks. This means lots and lots of sitting around and doing NOTHING. In order for me to not beat my head in I have been the craft queen. I painted 5 paintings for my room next year, have knit my little heart out and even made a pair of shorts for the Fourth of July. Yes, the Fourth of July and its not even June..... this is what my life has come to. Another downer is the weather. It hasnt been sunny or nice so going to the beach is a no go. But thats enough of my boring life update for the moment. Check in with you guys soon!

                                          Love Always,

                                                           Christina

Got the BOOT

After my nice long run on Friday my running took a bit of a set back. Usually, I finish my run, I go up to the aerobics studio in my the school gym to stretch out, and then I go to the trainer to get ice. When I got up after stretching this Friday I couldn't put any weight at all on my foot. I didn't know what to think of it so I went to the trainer to see what was wrong. After about an hour of my dear friend Erin poking and prodding it, she decided that it was probably the start of a stress fracture ( yeah I know just my luck right?). And if i didn't look like an idiot half the time on campus already, now to top it off  i have to wear a boot... so that means no running and lost of being made fun of from my team and friends . Hopefully I can get this thing off soon and can get back to running!


                                Love Always,
                                            Christina

Run FOREST Run

 Today I decided to mix things up and go on an adventure! Instead of my usual run to the walking bridge and the rails trail I decided to take a run into Hyde Park. My coach told me about some great trails in the Culinary Institute of America so I decided to give them a try. Once I got the the CIA I ran into a few problems. I couldn't find the trails anywhere. I ran a complete mile around campus looking like an idiot before I got to them. Then I ran into my second problem, the bridge to get across the creek to the trails was out. After i spent all that time trying to find this stinking trails i was not about to just run back to Marist. So i started to look for a way to get across the creek and decided that the best route would be to go into the woods climb down a hill and then jump across a narrow end. I surprisingly did this all while successfully not getting poison ivy or bit by the massive snake I almost stepped on. All the trouble was so worth it once I got onto the trails. It was so nice that I kind of zoned out and lost track of where is was going. I finally realized where I was when I saw the back of FDR's house. At FDR's House I took a little breather then ran on home. My run ended up being 10.14 miles, the longest I'v ever run!

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRun

Running in The Rain

The last few weeks the weather in Poughkeepsie has been absolutely amazing to run in. Today, however, was not so amazing. Although I must admit when I'm not running today is my favorite kind of weather ever; dark, humid, and looks as if the sky could burst open at any minute. This is beautiful if your going to sit around and play in the rain all day, not when you want to go for a 5 mile run. The air was so thick it felt like I was breathing through a damp rag the entire time. The whole beginning of my  run I was praying for the sky to open up and for it to rain already! Too bad that never happened.... Even without the rain I still came back soaking wet, from sweat not water. But instead of feeling gross and tired,like you should be after that kind of run, I felt accomplished because I survived my first humid run of the spring/summer season. 

                                        Love Always, 

                                                   Christina 

Music to Run To!

Normal college kids run to rap, house music, and pop. For me none of that stuff get me motivated to run or to do anything at all. The only thing that gets me up and out is country music. Heres a little snip of whats playing in my ears while I run! 

1. Ferris Wheel- Jason Jones 
2. I'll Stay Me- Luke Bryan 
3. Keepin' It Country- Jake Owen 
4. Lot of Leaving' Left To Do- Dierks Bentley 
5. Cotton Pickin' Time- Blake Shelton 
6. Storm Warning- Hunter Hayes 
7. It's America- Rodney Atkins 
8. Pressing On a Bruise- Brad Paisley 
9. Mamma's Broken Heart- Miranda Lambert 
10. I'm In- Keith Urban 
11. Redneck Woman- Gretchen Wilson 
12. Summer Jam- Jake Owen 
13. I Want Crazy- Hunter Hayes 
14. Hot In Here- Rascal Flatts 
15. Bait a Hook- Justin Moore 

Heres Some More:

                                    Love Always, 
                                              Christina 

Country Workout! from cpopowytsch on 8tracks Radio.