Being Unemployed is the New Black

I have a lot of friends in New York that have currently found themselves sans employment. As an actress I have lived in a constant state of being half-employed, unemployed, sort-of employed.

To be honest, I can’t remember the time I really felt like I had a constant job, until now and I fully dislike it. If there was a time for me to have a lot of free-time on my hands it would be now…so I could be able to train a bit more and really rock myself into shape instead I find myself sitting in an office (this job I LOVE) and dreading an upcoming wine tasting for a company that I really am having issues with.

It is hard during this economic time to not take the easy route…to let yourself breathe and really take moments of being in between jobs to really find out what you want to do.

New York has embraced the fact that in a way everyone is a bit of an actor now…not knowing where their next paycheck is coming from, having free afternoons, and being able to party till the sun comes up without fear of being hungover at work.

My awesome friend, who is writing a blog about the chic new face of unemployment is one of these brave young women who is taking this time to have some fun and really find a job that suits her well. Check out her blog Unemployment in the City here.

On my end I am keeping these jobs I have and fitting in my running (like normal people). I’m super impressed for people who train while working really demanding jobs. Mine, to be honest, isn’t demanding per se but still overwhelming to say the least.

I am making it work right now…working for the weekend, working hard for the money, and praying I get an acting gig so I can jump ship from the real world and start the cycle of job hunting again.

Running in CT

When I first visited my boyfriend’s hometown in Ridgefield, CT he drove me around the horse farms and huge homes casually mentioning “you know when I played football I did this 5 mile run all the time.”

We were driving around his RUN. He was a RUNNER which was hot to my out-of-shape 20 year-old self. “Wow, I could never do that,” I remember myself saying. “Those hills look brutal.”

Fast forward to 2009. My boyfriend and I have dated, not dated, pretty much lived together then now live in different cities. A lot has happened over the last 8 years.

I had a race on Sunday in the city since I am enjoying these NYRR races so much but I couldn’t really go to CT for the first time since Thanksgiving and dine and dash to take the train right after his mom made dinner. I decided to forgo the 15K and do that run I had gawked at 8 years ago.

Ridgefield is just gorgeous. We started off the run with his parents (who were walking my dog). Fiona the maltipoo made a valiant effort to run with us for a little bit but then we took off. I had been told by the boyfriend “wait for this hill, it is a killer.”

I kept waiting and every hill we would run up I would think “whatever, not that bad.” Then we hit the actual hill which was BRUTAL. I have whined about hills before but this was a steep long climb. It was a gorgeous day so I tried to focus on the beautiful homes and horses but when we finished it I felt amazing.

The rest of the run goes flat and then the last mile is totally downhill. 5 miles. A really long hill. I did it and I was able to chat with the boyfriend while doing it.

I don’t know my pace. I think it was most likely about 11…you know what after running those crazy hills I DON’T CARE!

The Biggest Loser Half-Marathon?

Ok this whole “Biggest Loser” running thing this season has been weird.

A half-marathon in a HS gym? How is that equal to running outside? This is wildly frustrating to me…it could have been a cool challenge if they set up a mock-race in the hills around their campus. Maybe if they also brought back ALL of the contestants to compete for the 10,000… see how everyone was doing at home.

I love this show, it makes me cry all the time but I do think that sometimes they make things look too easy for the general public. I mean, a 1/2 Marathon is a huge accomplishment but one somebody should really train for… it isn’t about weight loss it is about a fitness goal so I don’t really know why it was in the show…

Between this and Dane’s faux ride and run “Marathon” a few weeks ago I think the folks at “Biggest Loser” need to get a little bit more integrity when it comes to showcasing a sport that people really devote serious training to.

When I started running I was in good shape but long-distance running is a whole different training program. To tell people differently sort of debases the training that runners go through to do these races… just saying.

To Race or Train in CT?

The hardest thing I am finding about attempting to run these 9 races is that I have the urge to run EVERY race no matter if it fits into my training schedule. I have three under my belt… the Gridiron Challenge, Snowflake 5K and NYRR 8000.

I am having an issue with the fact that I have not really been doing long runs due to a case of the flu that I’m FINALLY over with.

My boyfriends parents live in CT and are making dinner for us Saturday evening. I either stay the evening and run there during the day Sunday or run back into the city for this race.

Should I go to CT, blow off my race and do a training run there or come back into the city and run a 15K after being confined to my bed for the last few days?

This half marathon is in 6 weeks. According to the training schedule on the NYRR website…I’m screwed. According to my old training schedule that I used for PF Changs I’m ok…

I’ve done a 15K before…in the snow mind you. I should perhaps just suck it up but I have been trying to beat down this flu bug for a couple of weeks.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll try out 6-7 miles and see how my body does…

NYRR 8000

At 1am yesterday morning after I had polished off a Wetzel’s Pretzel in Penn Station I started to get nervous for my 6:30 wake-up to run the NYRR 8000. I had been at NJPAC to see my best friend in “Fiddler on the Roof” and had spent a day running around the city with an empty stomach.

For most of my runs I have been very good about getting enough sleep and eating right the night before. Last night was not the case. Setting my alarm for 6:30 I prayed that when I got up I would have the energy to hit the trail.

My friend Clive joined me at 7:45 and he also was not feeling the cold winter morning and the early race time as well. This morning, getting to my apartment he said “seriously, when I got your text at 1am I thought that you weren’t going to make it…if you would have stayed in bed I think I would have too.” But we are good little runners and we pulled ourselves out of bed cold and tired and walked to the start at the 101 St. Transverse.

The first mile was ok as I’m always a fan of the route on the west side. I was pushing so hard to wake up my body and get into a groove and though I felt like I was getting into a good pace I was not at all pushing myself due to a serious lack of sleep. I gave up on getting a personal best this race and just focused on my music and the beautiful sunny morning. Though I know it took some seconds off my time I stopped for some water, slowed down a bit on the hills and ran within myself.

Today the east side hill was brutal. Running up it I looked around at the runners faces with me and realized that I am not alone in my hatred for this part of the run. I need to get over it, however, because in the More 1/2 Marathon I will be doing that hill at least a couple times.

The last mile I was just thrilled to have finished the race and also cursing the fact that I couldn’t really push myself the way I wanted to. All in all I was happy with my run and it was a good kick in the pants that I need to really up my training before my next big race.

Distance: 4.9 Miles, 8.0 Kilometers
Date/Time: March 14, 2009, 8:00 am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 35deg., 61% hum.,wing sw 5mph

11:06 min/mile… not a PB but for feeling like my shoes were full of lead.. a very happy finish!

NYRR 8000

My next race is NYRR 8000!

I am super excited I am running it with my lovely running buddy Clive and it will be my 3 of 9 races to qualify for The 2009 New York Marathon!

Also on the race docket:

March 22nd- Colon Cancer 15K
April 19th- Run as One 4m
April 26th- MORE 1/2 Marathon

I thankfully have a free evening tomorrow night and I am going to set up a written training schedule putting in weigh training, tempo runs as well as Bikram once a week.

I did my first half following a pretty strict schedule and I think that is the best way for me to work the next 6 weeks before my next half!

Running Out Frustration

I hate my job.

I seriously never liked doing sales but I was hoping I would get an acting gig soon after I took it so I didn’t think much of it.

Now, after not getting paid for 4 months I am losing my mind. I work for the most disorganized company ever and I feel as though I fight for my correct payment every month.

I have been cold, mildly depressed and frustrated for the last couple weeks. I need Spring to hit quickly and I need a change of pace. This economy is going to make it tough to switch over to a new company but I am sick of working for people who just can’t get their stuff together.

In all of this I was so frustrated I wasn’t really training and had a moment of “woe is me.” Finally today I dragged myself out of bed and realized that my half marathon in April would not be successful until I let that all go and ran.

So I ran…. and went from wanting to beat someone up to really enjoying a misty and gray day. It started to rain and I didn’t care. Even after a bit of a long night of working I still pushed myself.

I can’t wait for warm running but I remembered today I can’t let a missed week of training totally mess up my plan.

10 mile/min marathon. October 2009. It. Will. Happen.

Also, to my lovely company.

I hate you.

Above is a picture of my dog. She is the only thing today with the 9 million emails that have gone back and forth about my check that has kept me sane.