Thanksgiving: Turkey Trot and Tofurkey

UPDATE: 15th female finisher. 1st in my age group!

Thanksgiving is all about tradition. I love the old ones like mom's pumpkin rolls and grandma's potatoes. But I love creating new ones even more!

Last year I started running a 5K Turkey Trot in Cocoa Beach, and this year I continued the tradition and ran it with my little brother.

The morning started early, at about 5:30. I had a little bit of a headache, but was feeling good otherwise. My family and I headed over to the race course about 6:15. As we were crossing the bridge from Merritt Island to the beach side, the sun rise was stunning. What a wonderful way to start the morning!

This was Jake's first 5k, so he wanted to run with me, even though he's much faster than I am. We ran the first two miles together and then he sprinted ahead to a great finish. Our first two splits were 7:44, then 7:59. 

He finished in 22:40 and I finished exactly a minute behind him at 23:40 (7:54 miles..I wanted closer to 7:30, but there's always next time!)

    

We headed home and I took a well deserved nap in front of the fireplace. Later that day Dad, Jake and I went to see my grandparents (Dad's side) and aunts and uncles for a quick visit. Then we rounded Mom up and went to my Grandma's house (Mom's side) for Thanksgiving dinner. I made some delicious vegan Tofurkey and then we ate, talked with family and watched the beautiful sunset.

(Dad, Mom, Me, Jake on Grandma's dock)

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Holiday! Happy Thanksgiving!

I Heart Swimming

That's right ladies and gents - another victory for my beloved FIT Swim Team! 

On Friday (right before I jetted home to Florida for Thanksgiving...more on that later) we travelled under the tunnel to Queens to swim against Queensbourough College and Borough of Manhattan College. This meet was a lot more official - two judges were there to monitor the times and procedure, and because of that we were eligible to qualify for Nationals. 

Our team did fantastic as usual, and swam qualifying times in several events.

I swam two individual events and two relays:

The 50 Freestyle - 2nd place (almost first! Soooo close!)

The 100 Back - 1st place (this is my favorite event, but I still have to cut several seconds off to qualify for nationals, which is my new goal...The picture above is me swimming the back)

The 200 Medley Relay - 1st place and we qualified!

The 200 Freestyle Relay - 1st place and we qualified!

Here is Gwen KICKING ASS in the 500 Free. She won. They combined the men's and women's heats. She beat the guys. She rocks:)

And here's Jack, priceless picture. He was counting laps for Gwen's 500.

Congrats again to my wonderful team!

Fall Runs are the Best Runs

Just a quick post today! I reached a "mile"stone by completing one of the longest runs I've done yet. Yesterday I did a very enjoyable 10 mile run in Central Park. Ahh, I absolutely love fall. The weather was perfect, about 40 degrees and partly cloudy. I'm pretty spoiled when it comes to running conditions: I 'd prefer not to run in the heat, the cold, the rain, too early, or too late. (I do it anyway, because that's what runners do!) But I love when conditions are perfect like yesterday!

I kept my pace around 9 minute miles, which felt great. I think if I keep this up, I'll be able to run around 8:30 minute miles for my first Half Marathon in a few months. I don't have a running watch (hint, hint mom;) so I use the CNN Building's huge clock to estimate my time! A bit archaic, but I actually like to round the corner of the bottom of the park and see the screen through the trees telling me I came in under my goal!

(No, that's not my picture, but it basically looked like that. Glorious, right?:)

Victory in the Pool!

FIT's swim team had our second official meet this afternoon and guess what? We won again! 

The meet was a little, um, ghetto (?)...Only one judge, a computer that stopped recording scores half way through the 200IM, and more last minute lane swaps than I can keep straight. But despite the disorganization, our team really pulled off some great times and personal victories.

I swam 2 Individual events and 2 Relay events:

The 100 Back

The 100 Free

The 200 Medley Relay (Back)

The 200 Free Relay

Here I am finishing my leg of the 200 Free Relay

Our relay team kicked ass - we won both the Free and Medley.

I won the 100 Back, and placed 3rd in the 100 Free.

Swimming in a meet is a lot different than practice. We do really intense workouts, but I still wasn't prepared for the intensity of competition. After my first event, my legs were full of lactic acid! I had to get in and tread water to stretch them out. I really enjoy the back stroke, and decided I want to work on it in training a lot more. 

Here we are discussing strategy with the coach.

Congrats to the FIT Swim Team!

Recycle your Electronics!

Yesterday, as I was walking through Union Square Park, I saw a massive electronics recycling collection site. It got me thinking about just how much of what we use we never think to recycle. Something like a piece of paper may make it into the recycle bin, but e-waste, electronics that are at the end of their use, is a growing segment of our landfills. 

E-waste, which can include computers, tv's, phones, stereos or ipods, made up 2 million tons of waste in 2005, only 15% of which was recycled. What makes electronics an especially important category to recycle is that they are often filled with toxic chemicals which can leak into landfills...scary stuff.

So next time you're finished with a computer or cell phone, research ways to recycle, refurbish, or reuse it instead of tossing it into the dumpster.

Here are some ideas:

Apple , Dell , HP and Gateway all have recycling programs

Visit http://www.greenerchoices.org/electronicsrecycling/el_computers.cfm?Page=Recycle#Computer

for more recycling info. 

A Very Fashionable Swim Team

Swimming isn't the first thing that may come to mind when you think of a fashion college. But this year, after the hard work of a few students and a willing athletic director, a team was born! The response was overwhelming: over 60 students initially signed up for try-outs. The number has since whittled down to around 20 swimmers. After securing a dedicated and super-cool coach, the team was complete.

 At the first meet last weekend, the team walked in with miss-matched swimsuits and generic Athletics XXL t-shirts. But, our rag-tag team took first place, blowing the competition out of the, well, water.

Our second meet was cancelled today (we suspect the other teams are scared;) but we're looking forward to our next chance to dominate, on November 15th.

Triathletes for Obama

I saw this on http://meyrickjones.blogspot.com/ and couldn't resist!

AuH2Obama

UPDATE:
Here's a last minute picture from the most recent show. Enjoy! And don't forget to vote!




I thought I would wait until election week to bring you all a recap of my campaigning efforts. A friend of mine, Kate Goldwater, is an environmentally conscious fashion designer with an adorable store in the East Village called AuH2O. She has been selling her line of Barack Obama merchandise for a few months now, and I've been lucky enough to model in several fundraising fashion shows for the campaign.



Kate's clothes are all one of a kind pieces, made from recycled materials like second hand shirts and dresses. The Obama line includes shirts, skirts, shorts, and tops, all with the obama screen printed logo; plus jewelry from Kate and a few other designers. Her Obama Fashion shows were also the subject of a CNN iReport documentary which was a finalist in the iReport Film Fesitval. You can watch the video here: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-112855



If you haven't already voted absentee or early as some states allow, get out and vote tomorrow!

NYC Marathon!

I was up early this morning to watch the New York City Marathon run through the streets of Manhattan. The day was fantastic for a marathon, a little cool and windy, but clear skies and sun greeted runners later in the day. I headed uptown to watch the race from first avenue. A friend and I had brunch outside along the course which offered us a great view of the runners. It is always so inspiring to see a race like this. I can't wait to run my first marathon (one day...)

Congratulations to everyone who completed the race!

Winners:
Marilson Gomes Dos Santos 2:08:43
Paula Radcliffe 2:23:55


Read my blog about the marathon's recycling efforts here:
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2008/10/25/nyc-marathon-greener-than-ever-and-star-studded